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Legal representatives representing a producer from Chicago's WGN television station who was briefly held by federal agents last week describe the event as "something that should alarm and frighten every person in this nation".

Particulars of the Detainment

Debbie Brockman, a US citizen and WGN employee, was arrested on the weekend by federal agents during an Immigration and Customs Enforcement action in Chicago's Lincoln Square neighborhood. Videos from the scene show Brockman being pushed down by two agents before she is restrained and put in a vehicle.

At the time, a government spokesperson claimed that the individual "threw objects 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.

Legal Team's Reaction

In a news release released by attorneys representing Brockman on earlier this week, her representatives disputed the government's account. They stated 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 lawyers explain that at the moment of the detainment, Brockman was "not acting in any professional capacity as an staff member for WGN" but that she was just "walking to the transit point as part of her morning commute when she was attacked by federal officers.

"Brockman, who is a American citizen born in this country, was forcibly held on Foster Avenue," the release adds. "As this happened, bystanders on the street began recording the event and asked Ms Brockman her name."

The release indicates that she told the bystanders her name and that she was employed at WGN, in the hopes that "someone would inform her employer so colleagues would know that she would not be coming at work that day", her lawyers said.

Consequences and Next Steps

According to her legal team, Brockman was held in federal custody for about several hours before being freed.

"The individual has not been charged with any crimes and she intends to pursue all legal avenues open to her to vindicate her entitlements and ensure government accountability for their actions," the statement notes.

"One attorney, one of her attorneys, commented in the statement: "If equipped, covered, government officers are snatching American nationals off the street as they travel to work and throwing them in unmarked vehicles, you can only imagine what these officers must be prepared to do to our foreign-born residents and individuals who dare to speak out against them."

"The journalist was taken to the ground, battered, restrained, and her trousers were lowered exposing her uncovered skin," Thomson said. "Not anyone should be handled like that in this city, in this nation or anywhere else in the world."

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