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Attorneys acting for a producer from the city of Chicago's local TV network who was temporarily detained by federal agents last week characterize the event as "something that should alarm and horrify every person in this nation".

Details of the Arrest

The journalist, a US citizen and station staff member, was taken into custody on Friday by government officers during an ICE action in a North Side Chicago area. Videos from the scene show Brockman being forced to the ground by officers before she is restrained and placed in a van.

At the time, a government spokesperson claimed that the individual "hurled items at an official vehicle" and was "detained for assault on a federal law enforcement officer".

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

Attorney's Reaction

In a news release issued by lawyers acting for Brockman on Tuesday, her legal team disputed 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 federal agents on her way to work" on the date in question.

Her attorneys say that at the moment 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 bus stop as part of her morning commute when she was attacked by Border Patrol agents.

"The individual, who is a American citizen native to the US, was forcibly held on Foster Avenue," the statement adds. "As this occurred, individuals on the street began recording the event and inquired Ms Brockman her name."

The statement indicates that she told the bystanders her name and that she worked at the station, in the hopes that "someone would notify her employer so colleagues would know that she would not be coming at work that day", her attorneys stated.

Consequences and Next Steps

Based on 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 offenses and she plans to explore all legal options available to her to vindicate her entitlements and hold the federal authorities accountable for their conduct," the statement adds.

"Brad Thomson, one of her attorneys, commented in the statement: "When armed, masked, federal agents are taking US citizens off the street as they walk to work and throwing them in unmarked vehicles, you can only imagine what these agents must be prepared to do to our foreign-born residents and individuals who choose to speak out against them."

"The journalist was forced down, battered, restrained, and her trousers were pulled down revealing her uncovered skin," Thomson stated. "No one should be treated like that in this metropolis, in this nation or any other place in the world."

Immigration authorities, the Department of Homeland Security, and the US Customs and Border Protection did not provide a prompt reply to inquiries from the media.