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Attorneys representing a journalist from Chicago's WGN television station who was temporarily detained by government officers last week characterize the event as "an occurrence that ought to concern and horrify every person in this country".

Details of the Detainment

The journalist, a American national and WGN employee, was arrested on the weekend by federal agents during an Immigration and Customs Enforcement action in a North Side Chicago area. Videos from the location depict Brockman being pushed down by officers before she is restrained and placed in a van.

At the time, a government spokesperson stated that Brockman "threw objects at border patrol's car" and was "detained for assault on a federal law enforcement officer".

Later on Friday, the television station confirmed that their employee had been freed from detention and that no charges had been filed against her.

Legal Team's Reaction

In a statement issued by attorneys representing the journalist on Tuesday, her representatives disputed the government's account. They declared they "strongly refute any allegation that she assaulted anyone" and that "Brockman was the one who was violently assaulted by federal agents on her way to work" on 10 October.

Her lawyers explain that at the time of the detainment, Brockman was "not performing in any professional capacity as an employee for WGN" but that she was just "heading to the transit point as part of her daily travel when she was attacked by federal officers.

"Brockman, who is a US Citizen native to the US, was forcibly held on Foster Avenue," the statement continues. "As this occurred, bystanders on the street began recording the incident and asked Ms Brockman her name."

The statement indicates that she informed the bystanders her name and that she was employed at the station, in the hopes that "a person would notify 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 lawyers, Brockman was kept in federal custody for about several hours before being released.

"The individual has not been accused with any crimes and she plans to explore all legal avenues available to her to uphold her rights and hold the federal authorities accountable for their conduct," the statement notes.

"One attorney, a legal representative, added in the statement: "If equipped, masked, federal agents are snatching US citizens off the street as they walk to work and throwing them in unmarked vehicles, you can only conceive what these agents must be willing to do to our immigrant neighbors and people who choose to speak out against them."

"The journalist was taken to the ground, struck, restrained, and her trousers were lowered exposing her uncovered skin," Thomson stated. "Not anyone should be handled like that in this city, in this nation or anywhere else in the world."

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