A federal agent shot a woman five times—then came back to her hospital room to snap a photo of her like she was a hunting trophy.

According to the New Republic, Marimar Martinez testified before Congress on Tuesday about the October incident in Chicago, where Border Patrol agents opened fire on her after she followed their car to warn her neighbors about their presence.

The Department of Homeland Security initially lied, saying Martinez tried to run the officers over, “forcing the officers to fire defensively.” She was charged with felony assault of a federal officer—despite being the one who ended up in the hospital with seven bullet holes in her body.

THE DETAILS: Martinez revealed a chilling new detail in her testimony: after spending less than three hours in the hospital, she was discharged into FBI custody and wheeled out through the back exit. What she saw there was straight out of a nightmare.

“I observed over dozens of Border Patrol agents waiting outside the hospital,” Martinez said. “One of the agents came up to me with his cell phone and took a photograph of me. It was the same agent who had previously kept coming in and out of my room, and I had to repeatedly tell him to leave.”

She didn’t consent. He didn’t care.

“It still haunts me that this agent has my photo on his phone,” Martinez told lawmakers. “Was this the agent that shot me? Was this a trophy for him?”

Marimar Martinez: I was escorted out through the back in a https://t.co/HBG9JTEKDG of the agents came up to me with his cell phone and took a photograph of me. It still haunts me that this agent has my photo on his phone. Was this the agent that shot me? Was this a trophy for… pic.twitter.com/dloJrYmqc8

— Acyn (@Acyn) February 3, 2026

OF COURSE: The “trophy” suspicion isn’t unfounded. The New Republic says Charles Exum, the agent who shot Martinez, bragged about it afterward in text messages: “I fired 5 rounds and she had 7 holes. Put that in your book, boys.”

Let that sink in. A federal agent shot an American woman multiple times, then texted his buddies about it like he’d just bagged a deer.

ZOOM OUT: Martinez wasn’t the only victim of federal violence to testify Tuesday. Also present were Aliya Rahman, who was violently detained by ICE agents in Minneapolis while trying to see her doctor, and the brothers of Renee Good—the first U.S. citizen killed by a federal agent during Trump’s immigration crackdown. Martin Daniel Rascon, whose family was shot at by Border Patrol in California, also spoke.

Not a single Republican showed up to hear any of them.

WHY IT MATTERS: This isn’t just about one disturbing photo. While ICE has reportedly been scanning protesters’ faces into databases, Martinez’s case feels far more personal—an agent repeatedly entering her hospital room against her wishes, then photographing her as she sat wounded in a wheelchair. It’s the behavior of someone who sees themselves as above accountability, operating in an agency that increasingly acts like it has no limits.

The question Martinez asked Congress deserves an answer: If she was already in custody, why did he need that photo—if not as a trophy?