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Attorneys acting for a producer from the city of Chicago's local TV network who was briefly held by federal agents last week characterize the incident as "something that should concern and frighten every person in this country".

Particulars of the Detainment

Debbie Brockman, a American national and WGN employee, was arrested on the weekend by government officers during an ICE action in Chicago's Lincoln Square neighborhood. Footage from the location depict the producer being forced to the ground by officers before she is restrained and placed in a van.

At the time, a homeland security official claimed that Brockman "threw objects 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 released from federal custody and that no charges had been filed against her.

Legal Team's Reaction

In a statement released by attorneys representing the journalist on earlier this week, her legal team disputed the government's account. They stated they "adamantly deny any claim that she attacked anyone" and that "She 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 acting in any professional capacity as an staff member for WGN" but that she was just "walking to the transit point as part of her daily travel when she was attacked by Border Patrol agents.

"Brockman, who is a US Citizen born in this country, was forcibly held on Foster Avenue," the release adds. "As this happened, bystanders on the street began filming the incident and asked her her name."

The release says that she informed the bystanders 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 stated.

Aftermath and Legal Action

According to her lawyers, the journalist was held in government detention for about seven hours before being released.

"She has not been charged with any offenses and she intends to explore all legal avenues open to her to vindicate her entitlements and hold the federal authorities accountable for their actions," the release notes.

"Brad Thomson, one of her attorneys, commented in the statement: "If equipped, covered, 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 willing to do to our foreign-born residents and people who dare to speak out against them."

"Ms Brockman was taken to the ground, struck, restrained, and her trousers were pulled down revealing her uncovered skin," Thomson stated. "Not anyone should be treated like that in this city, in this country or any other place in the world."

Immigration authorities, the Department of Homeland Security, and the US Customs and Border Protection did not provide a prompt reply to inquiries from the media.