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Attorneys representing a journalist from Chicago's WGN television station who was temporarily detained by federal agents last week characterize the event as "an occurrence that ought to concern and horrify each individual in this country".

Particulars of the Arrest

Debbie Brockman, a American national and station staff member, was taken into custody on Friday by federal agents during an Immigration and Customs Enforcement operation in a North Side Chicago area. Footage from the location depict the producer being pushed down by two agents before she is handcuffed and put in a van.

At the time, a homeland security official claimed that Brockman "hurled items at an official vehicle" and was "detained for assault on a federal law enforcement officer".

Later on Friday, WGN announced that their employee had been freed from detention and that no accusations had been pressed against her.

Legal Team's Reaction

In a statement released by attorneys acting for the journalist on Tuesday, her representatives disputed the government's account. They stated they "strongly refute any claim that she assaulted anyone" and that "Brockman was the one who was physically attacked by officers on her way to work" on the date in question.

Her attorneys explain that at the moment of the arrest, Brockman was "not performing in any official role as an staff member for WGN" but that she was just "walking to the bus stop as part of her daily travel when she was attacked by Border Patrol agents.

"Brockman, who is a US Citizen native to the US, was violently detained on a city street," the release continues. "As this happened, individuals on the street began filming the event and asked her her name."

The release says that she informed the bystanders her name and that she was employed at the station, in the hopes that "someone would inform her workplace so colleagues would know that she would not be coming at work that day", her attorneys stated.

Aftermath and Next Steps

Based on her lawyers, Brockman was held in federal custody for about seven hours before being released.

"She has not been charged with any crimes and she plans to pursue all legal options open to her to vindicate her rights and hold the federal authorities accountable for their conduct," the release adds.

"One attorney, one of her attorneys, commented in the statement: "If armed, masked, federal agents are snatching US citizens off the street as they walk to work and placing them in unmarked vehicles, you can only imagine what these agents must be willing to do to our foreign-born residents and people who dare to speak out against them."

"Ms Brockman was taken to the ground, struck, handcuffed, and her trousers were lowered revealing her uncovered skin," the lawyer stated. "No one should be handled like that in this metropolis, in this country or anywhere else in the world."

Immigration authorities, the Department of Homeland Security, and the US Customs and Border Protection did not immediately respond to inquiries from the media.