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Legal representatives acting for a producer from Chicago's local TV network who was briefly held by federal agents last week describe the event as "an occurrence that ought to alarm and horrify every person in this nation".

Details of the Arrest

Debbie Brockman, a American national and WGN employee, was arrested on the weekend by federal agents during an Immigration and Customs Enforcement action in Chicago's Lincoln Square neighborhood. Footage from the location show Brockman being forced to the ground by officers before she is handcuffed and placed in a vehicle.

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

Later on Friday, the television station announced that Brockman had been freed from detention and that no accusations had been filed against her.

Legal Team's Reaction

In a news release released by attorneys acting for the journalist on Tuesday, her legal team challenged the official version. They declared they "strongly refute any allegation that she assaulted anyone" and that "She was the one who was physically attacked by federal agents on her way to work" on 10 October.

Her attorneys explain that at the moment of the detainment, the journalist was "not performing in any official role 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 born in this country, was violently detained on Foster Avenue," the release continues. "As this happened, bystanders on the street began filming the incident and asked her her name."

The release indicates that she informed the onlookers her name and that she was employed at WGN, in the hopes that "a person would inform her workplace so colleagues would know that she would not be coming at work that day", her attorneys said.

Consequences and Next Steps

According to her legal team, Brockman was kept in government detention for about several hours before being freed.

"She has not been charged with any crimes and she plans to pursue all legal options open to her to vindicate her entitlements and hold the federal authorities accountable for their actions," the release adds.

"Brad Thomson, a legal representative, commented in the release: "When equipped, masked, 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 foreign-born residents and individuals who dare to protest against them."

"Ms Brockman was forced down, battered, restrained, and her pants were lowered exposing her uncovered skin," the lawyer said. "No one should be handled like that in this city, in this country or anywhere else in the globe."

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