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Attorneys representing a journalist from Chicago's local TV network who was briefly held by government officers last week characterize the event as "an occurrence that ought to alarm and frighten each individual in this country".

Details of the Detainment

Debbie Brockman, a US citizen and WGN employee, was taken into custody on Friday by government officers during an Immigration and Customs Enforcement action in Chicago's Lincoln Square neighborhood. Videos from the scene depict Brockman being forced to the ground by officers before she is handcuffed and put in a vehicle.

At the time, a homeland security official stated that Brockman "hurled items at border patrol's car" and was "detained for assault on a federal law enforcement officer".

Subsequently that day, the television station announced that their employee had been freed from detention and that no charges had been filed against her.

Attorney's Reaction

In a news release released by attorneys acting for Brockman on earlier this week, her legal team challenged the official version. They declared they "strongly refute any claim that she attacked anyone" and that "Brockman was the one who was physically attacked by officers on her way to work" on 10 October.

Her lawyers explain that at the time of the arrest, the journalist was "not acting in any professional capacity as an staff member for the station" but that she was just "heading to the bus stop as part of her daily travel when she was confronted by Border Patrol agents.

"Brockman, who is a US Citizen native to the US, was violently detained on Foster Avenue," the statement continues. "As this occurred, bystanders on the street began recording the event and asked her 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 arriving at work that day", her attorneys stated.

Aftermath and Legal Action

According to her lawyers, the journalist was held in federal custody for about several hours before being released.

"The individual has not been charged with any crimes and she intends to explore all legal avenues open to her to vindicate her entitlements and ensure government accountability for their actions," the statement notes.

"Brad Thomson, a legal representative, commented in the release: "If armed, masked, federal agents are snatching US citizens off the street as they walk to work and placing them in non-descript cars, you can only conceive 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 pants were lowered exposing her bare buttocks," Thomson stated. "Not anyone should be treated like that in this metropolis, in this country or any other place in the globe."

Immigration authorities, the federal agency, and the border agency did not immediately respond to requests for comment from news outlets.