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Legal representatives representing a journalist from Chicago's WGN television station who was temporarily detained by federal agents last week characterize the event as "an occurrence that ought to concern and horrify each individual in this country".

Details of the Arrest

The journalist, a US citizen and station staff member, was taken into custody on the weekend by federal agents during an Immigration and Customs Enforcement operation in a North Side Chicago area. Footage from the scene depict the producer being forced to the ground by officers before she is restrained and placed in a van.

At the time, a government spokesperson stated that Brockman "hurled items at border patrol's car" and was "detained for attacking an officer".

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

Attorney's Response

In a news release issued by lawyers representing Brockman on earlier this week, her legal team disputed the official version. They declared they "strongly refute any allegation that she assaulted anyone" and that "Brockman was the one who was physically attacked by federal agents on her way to work" on 10 October.

Her attorneys say that at the moment of the arrest, the journalist was "not acting in any professional capacity as an employee for WGN" but that she was just "walking to the transit point as part of her daily travel when she was attacked by federal officers.

"Brockman, who is a US Citizen native to the US, was forcibly held on a city street," the release continues. "As this occurred, bystanders on the street began filming the event and inquired Ms Brockman her name."

The release says that she told the onlookers 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 coming at work that day", her attorneys stated.

Aftermath and Legal Action

According to her legal team, the journalist was kept in government detention for about several hours before being released.

"She has not been accused with any offenses and she intends to pursue all legal avenues available to her to uphold her rights and hold the federal authorities accountable for their conduct," the statement notes.

"One attorney, one of her attorneys, added in the release: "If armed, covered, government officers are taking US citizens off the street as they travel to work and throwing them in unmarked vehicles, you can only imagine what these officers must be willing to do to our immigrant neighbors and people who dare to speak out against them."

"The journalist was forced down, struck, restrained, and her pants were pulled down exposing her bare buttocks," Thomson said. "No one should be treated like that in this city, in this country or anywhere else in the world."

ICE, the federal agency, and the border agency did not immediately respond to inquiries from the media.