About two weeks ago, a Border Patrol Agent shot a U.S. citizen named Marimar Martinez. Shortly afterward, the Department of Homeland Security claimed the woman had endangered their agents. That seems to be a load of bull manure.
Greg Sargent explains:
[J]ust after the shooting, DHS put out a statement claiming that the agents in question had been “boxed in by 10 cars” and that Martinez’s vehicle “rammed” theirs. The statement also suggests she threatened the agents with a “semi-automatic weapon.” All this “forced” an agent to shoot Martinez, who then “drove herself to the hospital.” DHS added that she’d previously doxed agents online. In short, the shooting was wholly justified: The victim was the one doing the terrorizing—of law enforcement.
Yet these claims are undermined by the criminal complaint against Martinez. It only mentions two cars menacing the agents, not 10. It doesn’t mention her gun, let alone her threatening of the agents with one. It says she was taken to the hospital by ambulance. And as the Chicago Sun-Times reports, Martinez’s lawyer says body-cam footage even contradicts the claim that she directly threatened the officers with her vehicle and shows that the agent said, “Do something, bitch,” before opening fire.
For some reason, Laura Loomer, Trump’s extramarital gal pal and personal security adviser, got involved. Sargent noted that she tweeted photos of Martinez’s shot-up car which Loomer said were provided by a “DHS source.” Loomer also repeated the DHS lie that Martinez drove herself to the hospital.
It sure looks like Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem’s department came up with one set of claims for public propaganda purposes then, when telling lies could become very problematic, an FBI agent told the truth in a sworn affidavit to the court.
So, three cheers for Sen. Chris Murphy for calling Noem’s department to task for the misinformation and asking tough, thorough questions in a letter to Noem. Among other things he wants to know how Loomer got the photos and whether DHS is investigating the leak to her. He also wants a copy of the body camera footage, information about any reviews or investigations into the agent’s use of force and whether any of the agents in the DHS vehicle were those Martinez allegedly doxed.
Sargent points out that given Republicans’ abdication of their power to the Trump administration, Noem will likely ignore Murphy’s requests. It’s also possible that Martinez really was a threat and will be convicted of attempted murder.
But that is no excuse for Democrats to throw up their hands and give up on making a big deal of trying to get to the truth. We need lots more Murphys, lots more public questioning and demanding of answers of the Trump administration, Sargent rightly argues.
You know the Republicans would be doing so 24/7 if a Democratic administration had shot a MAGA protester, got caught lying about it and leaked the lies to, say, an Indivisible leader. That goes a zillion times more if any Democratic leader engaged in a fraction of the lies and corruption spewing from the Trump White House every day.
