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Legal representatives representing a producer from Chicago's WGN television station who was temporarily detained by federal agents last week describe the event as "something that should alarm and horrify every person in this nation".

Details of the Arrest

Debbie Brockman, a US citizen and WGN employee, was arrested on Friday by federal agents during an Immigration and Customs Enforcement operation in Chicago's Lincoln Square neighborhood. Videos from the location depict the producer being pushed down by two agents before she is handcuffed and placed in a vehicle.

At the time, a homeland security official stated that Brockman "threw objects at border patrol's car" and was "detained for attacking an officer".

Subsequently that day, the television station announced that their employee had been released from federal custody and that no charges had been filed against her.

Attorney's Response

In a news release released by attorneys representing Brockman on earlier this week, her legal team disputed the government's account. They stated they "strongly refute any allegation that she attacked anyone" and that "She was the one who was physically attacked by officers on her way to work" on 10 October.

Her attorneys say that at the time of the detainment, the journalist was "not acting in any official role as an staff member for WGN" but that she was just "heading to the transit point as part of her morning commute when she was attacked by Border Patrol agents.

"Brockman, who is a American citizen born in this country, was violently detained on a city street," the release adds. "As this happened, individuals on the street began recording the event and inquired her her name."

The release indicates that she told the onlookers her name and that she was employed at the station, in the hopes that "someone would notify her workplace so coworkers would know that she would not be coming at work that day", her attorneys stated.

Consequences and Legal Action

According to her lawyers, Brockman was kept in federal custody for about seven hours before being released.

"She has not been charged with any crimes and she intends to pursue all legal options available to her to vindicate her rights and ensure government accountability for their conduct," the statement adds.

"Brad Thomson, one of her attorneys, added in the statement: "When equipped, covered, federal agents are taking American nationals off the street as they walk to work and placing them in unmarked vehicles, you can only imagine what these officers must be willing to do to our foreign-born residents and individuals who dare to protest against them."

"The journalist was forced down, struck, restrained, and her pants were pulled down exposing her bare buttocks," Thomson stated. "No one should be treated like that in this city, in this country or any other place in the globe."

ICE, the federal agency, and the US Customs and Border Protection did not immediately respond to inquiries from the media.