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Attorneys representing a producer from the city of Chicago's local TV network who was temporarily detained by federal agents last week describe the incident as "something that should concern and horrify every person in this country".

Details of the Detainment

The journalist, a American national and station staff member, was arrested on the weekend by government officers during an ICE action in a North Side Chicago area. Videos from the location depict Brockman being forced to the ground by officers before she is restrained and placed in a vehicle.

At the moment, a government spokesperson claimed that Brockman "hurled items at an official vehicle" and was "placed under arrest for assault on a federal law enforcement officer".

Subsequently that day, WGN announced that their employee had been freed from detention and that no accusations 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 declared they "adamantly deny any allegation that she attacked anyone" and that "She was the one who was violently assaulted by federal agents on her way to work" on the date in question.

Her attorneys explain that at the moment of the detainment, Brockman was "not performing in any official role as an employee for WGN" but that she was just "walking to the transit point as part of her morning commute when she was attacked by Border Patrol agents.

"Brockman, who is a American citizen native to the US, was forcibly held on Foster Avenue," the release adds. "As this happened, individuals on the street began filming the incident and inquired her her name."

The statement indicates that she told the bystanders her name and that she was employed at WGN, in the hopes that "someone would notify her employer so coworkers would know that she would not be arriving at work that day", her lawyers said.

Consequences and Next Steps

Based on her lawyers, the journalist was kept in federal custody for about seven hours before being freed.

"She has not been accused with any offenses and she plans to explore all legal avenues open to her to uphold her rights and hold the federal authorities accountable for their conduct," the release notes.

"Brad Thomson, a legal representative, commented in the statement: "When armed, masked, government officers are taking American nationals off the street as they walk to work and placing them in unmarked vehicles, you can only conceive what these agents must be willing to do to our foreign-born residents and people who dare to protest against them."

"Ms Brockman was forced down, battered, handcuffed, and her pants were lowered revealing her bare buttocks," the lawyer said. "Not anyone should be treated like that in this metropolis, in this country or anywhere else in the world."

ICE, the Department of Homeland Security, and the border agency did not immediately respond to inquiries from news outlets.