Marimar Martinez, Chicago woman shot 5 times by federal agent, to testify at Washington hearing

Marimar Martinez, the Chicago woman who survived being shot five times by a Border Patrol agent, will testify before the Homeland Security Committee in Washington next week — and committee Democrats are also requesting White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller and border czar Tom Homan appear.

Martinez, Miller and Homan's appearances are voluntary at the April 22 hearing and came at the request of minority Democrats on the committee — and Republican Chair Andrew Garbarino, R-NY, made sure to include some digs at Democrats in letters sent on Wednesday.

"The Committee does not believe this request to be in good faith and will be used, instead, as an attempt to politicize national security and gaslight the American public," he wrote.

Martinez's attorney Christopher Parente on Thursday confirmed her appearance at the second day of a hearing that is intended to discuss "the harmful impacts of the DHS Shutdown on Americans."

Republicans on the committee are using the hearing to blame Democrats for the shutdown that has stretched 61 days. Garbarino also criticized committee member Rep. Delia Ramirez, D-Illinois, in the letters, writing that Ramirez on Feb. 10 "refused to let witnesses answer any questions," and stated, "DHS cannot be reformed; it must be dismantled."

The April 22 hearing will mark the first time Martinez will testify before an official committee. Martinez first appeared before Congress on Feb. 3 at a public forum organized in response to the deaths of two Minnesotans at the hands of federal immigration officers, telling lawmakers she wanted federal agents held accountable and to hear an apology. She also said she wanted the Trump administration to acknowledge she is “not a domestic terrorist.”

Martinez repeatedly called out Border Patrol agent Charles Exum, who shot her five times Oct. 4. She called him her “attempted executioner.”

Martinez attended a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing March 3, standing just five rows behind then-Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem as Noem was pushed by U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal to acknowledge Martinez's shooting was “wrong” during a testy hearing.

Despite comprehensive coverage of Martinez’s shooting and charges of impeding law enforcement that were later dropped against her, Noem repeatedly claimed she didn’t know about the case.

“Sir, I don’t know the situation or the case,” Noem said. “I’ll look into it to ensure that all the procedures were followed properly.”

Noem was ousted from her post two days later. There were rumblings of dissatisfaction from President Donald Trump after two straight days of testimony by Noem before Senate and House committees.

Ramirez on Thursday told the Chicago Sun-Times she sees Martinez's testimony as an opportunity for Republican members of the committee to look a U.S. citizen in the face "and have to wrestle with what they did to fail her."

"I think it's really important for her to come and confront the people that are responsible for allowing what happened to her, and to use her power to be able to speak up for the number of people that have been shot, that have been arrested, abducted and beat by this administration," Ramirez said. "I think it's also important for us, and people like me who represent Chicago, to give her added space and time to be able to set the record on so many of the things that I'm sure they're going to try to question, or, you know, lie about, that happened."

The Illinois congresswoman called the GOP digs in the committee letters "ridiculous."

"The majority wants to find any absolute excuse that they can in order to not have to be confronted by what they're doing, but also what they're complicit to," Ramirez said. "They don't want to see Stephen Miller and Tom Homan come before the committee. In some cases, it's because they know how bad things are."

Democrats on the committee have tried to subpoena both Miller and Homan, but they have been voted down by GOP members. Ramirez said they will continue to push for their appearances — and are also requesting that Markwayne Mullins, the new DHS head, appear.

"He should come before our committee to assure us that he is taking these policy reforms seriously," Ramirez said. "It would be smart of Garbarino to bring him before the committee to prove to us that he is not Kristi Noem, and that he takes his job and his oath seriously, especially if he wants funding."