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Legal representatives acting for a producer from the city of Chicago's WGN television station who was briefly held by government officers last week describe the event as "something that should alarm and horrify each individual in this nation".

Details of the Arrest

The journalist, a American national and WGN employee, was taken into custody on Friday by government officers during an ICE action in a North Side Chicago area. Videos from the scene show the producer being forced to the ground by two agents before she is handcuffed and placed in a van.

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

Subsequently that day, WGN announced that Brockman had been released from federal custody and that no accusations had been filed against her.

Attorney's Reaction

In a news release issued by attorneys acting for the journalist on earlier this week, her representatives disputed the government's account. They stated they "strongly refute any claim 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 lawyers explain that at the time of the detainment, Brockman was "not acting in any professional capacity as an staff member for the station" but that she was just "heading to the bus stop as part of her daily travel when she was attacked by federal officers.

"The individual, who is a US Citizen native to the US, was violently detained on Foster Avenue," the statement adds. "As this occurred, bystanders on the street began recording the event and inquired her her name."

The statement indicates that she told the onlookers her name and that she worked at WGN, in the hopes that "someone would inform her employer so colleagues would know that she would not be arriving at work that day", her lawyers stated.

Consequences and Legal Action

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

"The individual has not been charged with any offenses and she plans to explore all legal avenues open to her to vindicate her entitlements and hold the federal authorities accountable for their actions," the statement adds.

"One attorney, a legal representative, commented in the release: "If equipped, masked, government officers are taking US citizens off the street as they travel to work and throwing them in unmarked vehicles, you can only conceive what these officers must be prepared to do to our immigrant neighbors and people who choose to protest against them."

"The journalist was taken to the ground, battered, handcuffed, and her trousers were lowered exposing her bare buttocks," Thomson said. "No one should be handled like that in this city, in this nation or any other place in the world."

Immigration authorities, the federal agency, and the US Customs and Border Protection did not immediately respond to inquiries from news outlets.