DHS says ICE agent defended himself from 'domestic terrorism'; a similar claim in Chicago was dismissed

Similarities between Chicago, Minneapolis ICE shooting examined

The Department of Homeland Security said the ICE agent who shot a woman in Minneapolis was defending himself from domestic terrorism. However, FOX 9's Paul Blume explains that a similar claim in Chicago was dismissed.

MINNEAPOLIS (FOX 9) - An attorney, whose client was shot by a federal agent during a recent immigration enforcement operation in Chicago, sees direct parallels to the deadly encounter in Minneapolis on Wednesday and is skeptical of the Trump administration’s portrayal of the shooting as an act of domestic terrorism.

Chicago's Operation Midway Blitz

Big picture view:

Authorities accused Marimar Martinez of ramming her Nissan Rogue into a federal law enforcement vehicle and then driving directly at an agent before he opened fire last October.

READ MORE: Marimar Martinez update: Bodycam video ordered withheld in Border Patrol agent shooting case

Martinez was shot multiple times by a Border Patrol Agent during the Department of Homeland Security’s immigration crackdown in Chicago known as Operation Midway Blitz.

ICE shooting in Minneapolis similar to Chicago incident

Dig deeper:

Martinez survived her injuries, but she was charged with assaulting a federal officer by use of a dangerous or deadly weapon.

Martinez’s attorney said federal prosecutors dropped the charges weeks later as more evidence came to light, including body-worn camera footage that contradicted the initial account from authorities.

"I think as you saw in Miramar's case, I mean what the government puts out is objectively not true in these cases," said Christopher Parente. "I mean the press releases that were put out in our case would have been used at trial just to show the misinformation, objective misinformation, not even close."

Despite the evidence, Parente said the government has not backed down from that initial characterization. 

"And they're still labeling her a domestic terrorist, even though the charges have all been dropped by the attorney's office," he said in an interview with the FOX 9 Investigators. 

Local perspective:

Parente said he and his client feared another shooting would occur during immigration enforcement operations across the country, worried about underlying training of federal officers and their tactics in urban settings.

He obtained text messages from one border patrol agent who said after the shooting he was looking forward to the next round.

"So it was just a matter of which next round, and unfortunately, Minneapolis happened to be next up," Parente said. 

He now sees similarities in the deadly shooting of Renee Nicole Good in Minneapolis, who was also shot while behind the wheel of her vehicle.

The other side:

At a Wednesday evening news conference in Minnesota, DHS Secretary Kristi Noem defended the actions of the ICE agent who shot and killed Good.

"ICE agents repeatedly ordered her (Good) to get out of the car and to stop obstructing law enforcement, but she refused to obey their commands," explained Noem. "She then proceeded to weaponize her vehicle and she attempted to run a law enforcement officer over. This appears as an attempt to kill or to cause bodily harm to agents, an act of domestic terrorism."

Parente warned that others should be skeptical of those initial assessments.

"I would tell everybody what I told them in our case," Parente said. "I would be very suspect of any press release that is put out right now by DHS."