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Legal representatives representing a journalist from Chicago's WGN television station who was briefly held by government officers last week describe the event as "something that should concern and frighten each individual in this country".

Particulars of the Detainment

The journalist, a American national and station staff member, was arrested on Friday by federal agents during an ICE operation in a North Side Chicago area. Footage from the location show Brockman being forced to the ground by two agents before she is handcuffed and placed in a vehicle.

At the time, a government spokesperson claimed that the individual "hurled items at an official vehicle" and was "detained for assault on a federal law enforcement officer".

Later on Friday, WGN confirmed that Brockman had been freed from detention and that no accusations had been filed against her.

Attorney's Response

In a news release issued by lawyers acting for Brockman on Tuesday, her legal team disputed the official version. They declared they "strongly refute any allegation that she attacked anyone" and that "Brockman was the one who was physically attacked by federal agents on her way to work" on 10 October.

Her attorneys explain that at the time of the detainment, the journalist was "not performing in any official role as an staff member for WGN" but that she was just "heading to the transit point as part of her daily travel when she was confronted by Border Patrol agents.

"The individual, who is a US Citizen born in this country, was violently detained on a city street," the release continues. "As this occurred, bystanders on the street began filming the event and inquired her her name."

The release says that she told the bystanders her name and that she worked at WGN, in the hopes that "a person would inform her workplace so coworkers would know that she would not be coming at work that day", her lawyers stated.

Aftermath and Next Steps

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

"The individual has not been accused with any crimes and she plans to explore all legal avenues available to her to uphold her entitlements and ensure government accountability for their conduct," the release notes.

"One attorney, a legal representative, added in the statement: "When armed, covered, government officers are taking American nationals off the street as they travel to work and placing them in unmarked vehicles, you can only conceive what these agents must be prepared to do to our foreign-born residents and individuals who choose to speak out against them."

"The journalist was taken to the ground, struck, handcuffed, and her trousers were pulled down revealing her bare buttocks," Thomson stated. "Not anyone should be treated like that in this metropolis, in this nation 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 requests for comment from news outlets.