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Attorneys acting for a producer from the city of Chicago's WGN television station who was temporarily detained by government officers last week describe the event as "an occurrence that ought to concern and frighten each individual in this nation".

Particulars of the Arrest

The journalist, a American national and WGN employee, was taken into custody on Friday by federal agents during an Immigration and Customs Enforcement action in Chicago's Lincoln Square neighborhood. Footage from the scene show the producer being forced to the ground by two agents before she is handcuffed and put in a vehicle.

At the time, a homeland security official claimed that the individual "threw objects at an official vehicle" and was "detained for attacking an officer".

Later on Friday, WGN announced that Brockman had been released from federal custody and that no charges had been filed against her.

Legal Team's Response

In a news release released by attorneys representing the journalist on earlier this week, her representatives disputed the government's account. They declared they "strongly refute any claim that she assaulted anyone" and that "She was the one who was violently assaulted by officers on her way to work" on the date in question.

Her attorneys explain that at the moment of the arrest, the journalist was "not performing in any official role as an employee for the station" but that she was just "walking to the bus stop as part of her morning commute when she was attacked by Border Patrol agents.

"Brockman, who is a American citizen native to the US, was forcibly held on Foster Avenue," the statement adds. "As this occurred, bystanders on the street began filming the event and inquired her her name."

The release says that she told the onlookers her name and that she worked at the station, 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 stated.

Aftermath and Next Steps

Based on her lawyers, Brockman was kept in federal custody for about seven hours before being freed.

"The individual has not been charged with any crimes and she intends to pursue all legal options open to her to uphold her rights and hold the federal authorities accountable for their actions," the statement notes.

"Brad Thomson, one of her attorneys, commented in the statement: "When equipped, masked, federal agents are taking US citizens off the street as they walk to work and throwing them in non-descript cars, you can only imagine what these officers must be prepared to do to our immigrant neighbors and people who dare to protest against them."

"The journalist was forced down, struck, handcuffed, and her trousers were pulled down revealing her uncovered skin," Thomson said. "No one should be handled like that in this city, in this country or anywhere else in the globe."

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