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Attorneys representing a journalist from the city of Chicago's local TV network who was temporarily detained by government officers last week characterize the event as "an occurrence that ought to concern and horrify each individual in this country".

Particulars of the Detainment

The journalist, a US citizen and WGN employee, was taken into custody on the weekend by government officers during an ICE operation in a North Side Chicago area. Videos from the scene show the producer being pushed down by two agents before she is restrained and put in a vehicle.

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

Later on Friday, WGN confirmed that their employee had been released from federal custody and that no charges had been filed against her.

Legal Team's Response

In a news release issued by lawyers representing Brockman on earlier this week, her representatives challenged the official version. They declared they "strongly refute any allegation that she assaulted anyone" and that "She was the one who was violently assaulted by officers on her way to work" on 10 October.

Her lawyers explain that at the moment of the detainment, the journalist was "not performing in any professional capacity as an staff member for the station" 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 US Citizen native to the US, was forcibly held on a city street," the release continues. "As this happened, individuals on the street began recording the incident and inquired her her name."

The release says that she informed the bystanders her name and that she was employed at WGN, in the hopes that "a person would notify her employer so colleagues would know that she would not be arriving at work that day", her lawyers said.

Consequences and Legal Action

According to her legal team, the journalist was held in government detention for about seven hours before being freed.

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

"One attorney, one of her attorneys, added in the release: "If equipped, covered, government officers are taking US citizens off the street as they travel to work and throwing them in non-descript cars, you can only conceive what these agents must be prepared to do to our immigrant neighbors and individuals who dare to speak out against them."

"The journalist was forced down, struck, handcuffed, and her pants were lowered revealing her uncovered skin," Thomson said. "Not anyone should be treated like that in this city, in this nation or anywhere else in the globe."

ICE, the federal agency, and the border agency did not provide a prompt reply to requests for comment from news outlets.