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

Details of the Detainment

The journalist, a US citizen and WGN employee, was arrested on Friday by federal agents during an Immigration and Customs Enforcement operation in Chicago's Lincoln Square neighborhood. Videos from the scene depict the producer being pushed down by two agents before she is handcuffed and placed in a van.

At the moment, a government spokesperson claimed that the individual "threw objects at border patrol's car" and was "placed under arrest for assault on a federal law enforcement officer".

Subsequently that day, the television station confirmed that Brockman had been freed from detention and that no accusations had been pressed against her.

Attorney's Reaction

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

Her attorneys say that at the moment of the arrest, Brockman was "not performing in any official role as an staff member for the station" but that she was just "walking to the bus stop as part of her daily travel when she was confronted by Border Patrol agents.

"The individual, who is a American citizen native to the US, was forcibly held on a city street," the statement continues. "As this occurred, bystanders on the street began filming the event and asked her her name."

The release says that she told the bystanders her name and that she worked at WGN, in the hopes that "someone would inform her workplace so coworkers would know that she would not be coming at work that day", her attorneys said.

Aftermath and Next Steps

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

"She has not been charged with any offenses and she intends to explore all legal avenues available to her to uphold her rights and ensure government accountability for their conduct," the statement adds.

"One attorney, one of her attorneys, added in the statement: "When equipped, covered, government officers are snatching 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 prepared to do to our immigrant neighbors and people who dare to speak out against them."

"The journalist was forced down, battered, handcuffed, and her pants were lowered revealing her bare buttocks," Thomson said. "Not anyone should be handled like that in this metropolis, in this country or any other place in the world."

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