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Attorneys acting for a journalist from Chicago's local TV network who was briefly held by government officers last week describe the event as "an occurrence that ought to alarm and horrify each individual in this country".

Details of the Detainment

Debbie Brockman, a US citizen and WGN employee, was taken into custody on the weekend by government officers during an ICE action in a North Side Chicago area. Footage from the location depict Brockman being pushed down by officers before she is handcuffed and placed in a vehicle.

At the moment, a government spokesperson stated that the individual "threw objects at an official vehicle" and was "detained for attacking an officer".

Subsequently that day, WGN announced that their employee had been released from federal custody and that no charges had been pressed against her.

Legal Team's Response

In a statement issued by lawyers representing Brockman on earlier this week, her representatives challenged the government's account. They declared they "strongly refute any claim that she attacked anyone" and that "Brockman was the one who was physically attacked by federal agents on her way to work" on 10 October.

Her attorneys explain that at the moment of the arrest, the journalist was "not performing in any professional capacity as an staff member for the station" but that she was just "walking to the bus stop as part of her morning commute when she was attacked by Border Patrol agents.

"The individual, who is a US Citizen born in this country, was forcibly held on a city street," the release adds. "As this happened, bystanders on the street began filming the event and asked Ms Brockman her name."

The release says that she told the bystanders her name and that she worked at WGN, in the hopes that "a person would notify her employer so coworkers would know that she would not be arriving at work that day", her lawyers stated.

Consequences and Next Steps

According to her lawyers, the journalist was held in federal custody for about several hours before being released.

"The individual has not been accused with any crimes and she plans to explore all legal options open to her to vindicate her rights and ensure government accountability for their conduct," the statement notes.

"Brad Thomson, one of her attorneys, commented in the release: "If armed, covered, federal agents are taking American nationals off the street as they walk to work and throwing them in non-descript cars, you can only conceive what these officers must be prepared to do to our immigrant neighbors and people who choose to protest against them."

"Ms Brockman was forced down, struck, handcuffed, and her pants were lowered revealing her bare buttocks," Thomson said. "No one should be treated like that in this city, in this country or anywhere else in the globe."

ICE, the Department of Homeland Security, and the US Customs and Border Protection did not immediately respond to inquiries from news outlets.