Nick Anderson is a Pulitzer Prize-winning editorial cartoonist.

An account given in court by the attorney of a woman who was shot several times by a Border Patrol agent “really makes it sounds like” the agent “tried to murder an anti-ICE protester in Chicago and DHS lied to cover for him,” said one researcher, referring to US Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the Department of Homeland Security whose agents have descended on the Chicago area in recent weeks and have violently raided homes and assaulted community members there.

Christopher Parente, an attorney for Marimar Martinez, spoke at a hearing Monday at a federal courthouse two days after federal officers accused her of driving toward them in the Brighton Park neighborhood of Chicago.

Parente said body camera footage called the account of federal prosecutors and Border Patrol into question, as it showed a Border Patrol agent saying to Martinez, “Do something, b----h” before pulling over and shooting her at least five times.

“We need a zero tolerance policy for lying by law enforcement,” said Jonathan Cohn, political director of Progressive Mass.

Martinez and another driver, Anthony Ian Santos Ruiz, were charged Sunday with felony assault of a federal officer, with prosecutors saying they were “aggressively” driving in a “convoy” including several vehicles. The Chicago Sun-Times noted that a statement by DHS after the incident referenced a loaded gun in Martinez’s car, which was not mentioned in the charges filed.

In court on Monday, Assistant US Attorney Sean Hennessy told U.S. District Judge Heather McShain that Martinez had a gun in her car but did not brandish it, while Parente said she has a concealed-carry license and a valid firearm.

A video captured by a security camera at a nearby tire shop showed Martinez’s Nissan Rogue pulling alongside a Chevy Tahoe driven by Border Patrol agents, who had just conducted an operation in nearby Oak Lawn. A GMC Envoy driven by Ruiz is seen following closely behind the authorities’ car. The shooting is not captured on the video.

McShain acknowledged the danger of Martinez and Ruiz’s actions but denied a request by the federal government to detain them, pending trial, citing the two US citizens’ lack of criminal history and extensive community ties. Martinez works for a school and had several character witnesses write letters to the court on her behalf.

“I think there’s a danger to the community, but I don’t think it’s Ms. Martinez,” said Parente at the hearing.

Roughly 100 community members responded to the shooting Saturday by holding a protest in the area where federal agents fired pepper balls and tear gas at the demonstrators.

The shooting in Brighton Park was one of several recent incidents in which federal agents have violently confronted community members in the Chicago area, following President Donald Trump’s deployment of immigration officers as part of what he calls “Operation Midway Blitz.” Over the weekend, Trump announced he was deploying hundreds of members of the National Guard—both from Illinois and other states—to Chicago to support the effort over the objections of rights groups and Democratic Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker.

The president and his allies have repeatedly claimed that a federal law enforcement response is necessary in cities including Chicago, Portland, and Washington, DC, even as statistics have shown violent crime is down in the cities and as local authorities have denied that protesters against Trump’s mass deportation campaign are causing havoc.

On Monday, officials in Chicago and Illinois sued the Trump administration over its invasion of the city, and a group of protesters and journalists filed a separate suit arguing that federal agents have “shot, gassed, and detained individuals” for exercising their First Amendment rights.

While the killing of right-wing influencer Charlie Kirk last month launched a flurry of conspiracy theories, an explosive new claim made Monday by one of Kirk’s former associates has sparked a civil war among the MAGA right.

“Charlie was done with Israel bullying him, and I am now going to present to you proof of what I am saying,” said far-right influencer Candace Owens on Monday. “This is an actual group chat which happened two days before Charlie Kirk was assassinated.”

Owens went on to share an image of an alleged group chat that included Kirk and eight other individuals, naming just one of the other eight: Rob McCoy, the co-chair of Kirk’s conservative advocacy organization Turning Point USA.

In the text messages, Kirk allegedly complained about having “lost another huge Jewish donor,” something that would cost him “$2 million a year” because he insisted on inviting Tucker Carlson – an outspoken critic of the United States’ support for Israel – to an upcoming Turning Point event.

That donor is suspected to be conservative billionaire Robert Shillman, largely due to a New York Times report last week that said Shillman had “angrily questioned Kirk for giving a platform to Carlson,” and that he had informed Kirk he would be withdrawing a $2 million pledge to Turning Point, an account that lines up with Kirk’s alleged comments.

Theories that Kirk had become disillusioned with Israel in recent months were also suggested by Carlson, who, while appearing on the Charlie Kirk Show just days after Kirk’s killing, suggested Israeli leadership was “disgusting” for trying to use his death to promote their own political causes. Carlson also said he was “worried” for Kirk due to the “enormous pressure” he was under from donors.

While Owens’ image of the supposed group chat has not been independently verified, she received significant blowback from many other MAGA figures for her continued suggestions that Israel may have played a role in Kirk’s killing, a suggestion that spread so wildly online that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu even addressed the allegation, calling it “insane.”

Laura Loomer, who wields a “breathtaking influence” in the Trump administration, characterized Owens’ suggestions that Israel played a role in Kirk’s killing as “psychotic rants” in a social media post on X late Monday. Dinesh D’Souza, a right-wing filmmaker whose 2022 conspiracy film “2,000 Mules” saw him sued and forced to apologize, said Owens’ “wild allegations” were nothing more than “bogus investigations.”

Others MAGA figures have suggested they support Owens’ claims, including Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA), another harsh critic of the United States’ support of Israel, who shared a video of Owens’ allegations Monday evening on social media. Loomer fired off at Greene for doing so Tuesday morning, accusing the lawmaker of wanting to “rip apart evangelical coalitions in the GOP to undermine [President Donald] Trump.”