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Attorneys acting for a producer from Chicago's local TV network who was briefly held by government officers last week describe the incident as "an occurrence that ought to alarm and frighten each individual in this country".

Details of the Arrest

Debbie Brockman, a American national and station staff member, was taken into custody on Friday by government officers during an ICE operation in Chicago's Lincoln Square neighborhood. Footage from the scene show Brockman being forced to the ground by two agents before she is handcuffed and put in a vehicle.

At the time, a government spokesperson stated that Brockman "hurled items at an official vehicle" and was "detained for attacking an officer".

Later on Friday, WGN announced that their employee had been freed from detention and that no accusations had been pressed against her.

Legal Team's Response

In a news release released by attorneys representing the journalist on earlier this week, her representatives disputed the official version. They stated they "strongly refute any claim that she attacked anyone" and that "Brockman was the one who was violently assaulted by officers on her way to work" on the date in question.

Her lawyers explain that at the moment of the arrest, the journalist was "not acting in any official role as an employee for WGN" but that she was just "heading to the bus stop as part of her morning commute when she was attacked by federal officers.

"The individual, who is a US Citizen native to the US, was violently detained on Foster Avenue," the release adds. "As this happened, individuals on the street began recording the event and inquired her her name."

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

Aftermath and Next Steps

Based on her legal team, the journalist was held in federal custody for about seven hours before being freed.

"The individual has not been accused with any offenses and she plans to pursue all legal avenues available to her to vindicate her entitlements and hold the federal authorities accountable for their conduct," the statement adds.

"One attorney, one of her attorneys, commented in the statement: "When equipped, covered, government officers are snatching US citizens off the street as they travel to work and throwing them in unmarked vehicles, you can only imagine what these officers must be prepared to do to our foreign-born residents and people who choose to protest against them."

"The journalist was taken to the ground, battered, handcuffed, and her pants were lowered revealing her uncovered skin," the lawyer stated. "Not anyone should be treated like that in this metropolis, in this nation or anywhere else in the globe."

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