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Attorneys acting for a journalist from the city of Chicago's WGN television station who was briefly held by government officers last week characterize the incident as "an occurrence that ought to alarm and horrify every person in this nation".

Particulars of the Detainment

Debbie Brockman, a US citizen and WGN employee, was arrested on Friday by government officers during an ICE action in Chicago's Lincoln Square neighborhood. Videos from the location depict Brockman being pushed down by two agents before she is handcuffed and put in a vehicle.

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

Subsequently that day, WGN announced that Brockman had been freed from detention and that no charges had been pressed against her.

Attorney's Reaction

In a news release issued by lawyers acting for Brockman on Tuesday, her representatives challenged the government's account. They stated they "adamantly deny 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 explain that at the moment of the detainment, the journalist was "not acting in any professional capacity 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 confronted by federal officers.

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

The release indicates that she informed the onlookers her name and that she worked at the station, in the hopes that "someone would notify her workplace so colleagues would know that she would not be arriving at work that day", her attorneys said.

Consequences and Next Steps

According to her legal team, the journalist was held in federal custody for about seven hours before being freed.

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

"One attorney, a legal representative, commented in the statement: "When equipped, masked, government officers are snatching US citizens off the street as they walk 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 individuals who choose to speak out against them."

"The journalist was forced down, battered, handcuffed, and her pants were lowered exposing her bare buttocks," the lawyer said. "No one should be handled like that in this city, in this nation or anywhere else in the globe."

Immigration authorities, the Department of Homeland Security, and the border agency did not provide a prompt reply to requests for comment from news outlets.