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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 characterize the event as "an occurrence that ought to concern and horrify each individual in this nation".

Details of the Detainment

Debbie Brockman, a US citizen and station staff member, was arrested on the weekend by government officers during an ICE operation in a North Side Chicago area. Footage from the scene depict Brockman being pushed down by two agents before she is handcuffed and placed in a van.

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

Later on Friday, WGN announced that their employee had been freed from detention and that no charges had been pressed against her.

Attorney's Reaction

In a news release released by attorneys representing the journalist on Tuesday, her representatives disputed the official version. They stated they "strongly refute any allegation that she assaulted anyone" and that "She was the one who was physically attacked by officers on her way to work" on the date in question.

Her lawyers say that at the moment of the arrest, Brockman was "not acting in any professional capacity as an employee for WGN" but that she was just "walking to the bus stop as part of her daily travel when she was attacked by Border Patrol agents.

"The individual, who is a US Citizen born in this country, was violently detained on a city street," the release adds. "As this occurred, bystanders on the street began filming the event and asked Ms Brockman her name."

The release indicates that she told the onlookers her name and that she was employed at WGN, in the hopes that "a person would inform her employer so coworkers would know that she would not be coming at work that day", her attorneys stated.

Aftermath and Legal Action

Based on her legal team, the journalist was kept in federal custody for about seven hours before being released.

"She has not been charged with any offenses and she plans to pursue all legal avenues available to her to vindicate her rights and ensure government accountability for their conduct," the release notes.

"One attorney, a legal representative, added in the release: "If equipped, covered, federal agents are taking American nationals off the street as they walk to work and throwing them in unmarked vehicles, you can only conceive what these agents must be prepared to do to our immigrant neighbors and individuals who choose to protest against them."

"The journalist was forced down, struck, restrained, and her pants were pulled down revealing her uncovered skin," the lawyer said. "Not anyone should be handled like that in this city, in this country or any other place in the world."

Immigration authorities, the Department of Homeland Security, and the border agency did not immediately respond to requests for comment from news outlets.