One of Donald Trump’s immigration enforcement officers was caught bragging about shooting a young woman in Chicago, texting about firing “five rounds” into her body and declaring “s--t happens.”
The vile messages were read out during a congressional hearing on Tuesday, in which the brothers of slain Minneapolis mother Renee Good also choked back tears as they recounted the death of their sister by an ICE officer last month.
The Chicago operation took place on October 4, when federal agents shot U.S. citizen Marimar Martinez five times in the suburb of Brighton Park–and later tried to blame her for their conduct.
The agents had initially claimed that Martinez had chased them and rammed her car into one of their vehicles, but the case against her unraveled as Border Patrol’s story changed.
As Martinez testified on Capitol Hill on Tuesday about the use of force by Department of Human Services officers, Democrat Robert Garcia read out a series of text messages sent by the Border Patrol agent who shot her.
One text featured a link to an article about the shooting, in which he wrote: “I fired 5 rounds and she had 7 holes. Put that in your book boys.”
“Oh well, it is what it is,” said another text, followed by a third: “S--t happens.”
Garcia described the texts as “disgusting and shameful”.
“This is someone that works for the United States government,” he said. “It’s our understanding that he was actually bragging about his aim in shooting an unarmed American citizen. Is that right?”
“Correct,” Martinez replied.
The revelations come as Trump faces an ongoing firestorm over his deportation strategy due to the heavy-handed tactics of federal agents.
Those tactics were thrown into the global spotlight last month when Good, a 37-year-old mother of three, was killed by ICE agent Jonathan Ross on January 7.
But tensions escalated a few weeks later when yet another U.S. citizen, Veterans Affairs nurse Alex Pretti, was also killed on the streets of Minneapolis as he recorded border patrol agents with his phone.
Speaking out publicly about Good’s death on Tuesday, her two brothers, Luke and Brent Ganger, told lawmakers about the distress and disbelief they felt.
The family initially took “consolation” that Good’s death “would bring change in our country,” Luke Granger added, “and it has not.”
During the hearing, Democrat Greg Casar also held a 3-minute and 26-second moment of silence, representing the amount of time Good was left to bleed without medical assistance before she died.“
In Martinez’s case, the department initially tried to charge her, but prosecutors dropped the case two months later.
“The government told the people they were targeting the worst of the worst, but their actions demonstrated otherwise,” she told the hearing.
“They are targeting individuals who fit a certain profile, who simply have a certain accent, a non-white skin color, just like me.”
The Daily Beast has sought a response from the Department of Homeland Security about the disturbing texts but has yet to hear back.
Trump has consistently defended his deportation strategy, but last week sent in border czar Tom Homan to Minneapolis to de-escalate tensions, sidelining Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and Border Patrol commander Greg Bovino in the process.
“We can do better,” Homan said at a press conference, in a rare acknowledgment from an administration official that the operation had not been perfect.
“We made some significant gains, significant coordination and cooperation, and you’re going to see some massive changes occurring here in this city.”
