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Attorneys acting for a journalist from the city of Chicago's WGN television station who was briefly held by federal agents last week characterize the incident as "something that should concern and horrify each individual in this nation".

Details of the Detainment

The journalist, a US citizen and WGN employee, was taken into custody on Friday by federal agents during an Immigration and Customs Enforcement operation in a North Side Chicago area. Footage from the scene show Brockman being pushed down by officers before she is handcuffed and placed in a vehicle.

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

Subsequently that day, WGN announced that Brockman had been freed from detention and that no charges had been filed against her.

Attorney's Response

In a news release issued by lawyers acting for Brockman on Tuesday, her representatives challenged the government's account. They declared they "strongly refute any allegation that she assaulted anyone" and that "She was the one who was violently assaulted by officers on her way to work" on 10 October.

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

"The individual, who is a American citizen native to the US, was forcibly held on a city street," the statement continues. "As this happened, individuals on the street began recording the incident and asked her her name."

The release says that she informed the bystanders her name and that she was employed at WGN, in the hopes that "a person would notify her workplace so colleagues would know that she would not be arriving at work that day", her attorneys said.

Consequences and Legal Action

Based on her legal team, Brockman was kept in government detention for about seven hours before being released.

"She has not been accused with any crimes and she intends to explore all legal options open to her to vindicate her entitlements and hold the federal authorities accountable for their conduct," the statement notes.

"Brad Thomson, a legal representative, commented in the statement: "If equipped, covered, government officers 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 agents must be prepared to do to our immigrant neighbors and individuals who choose to protest against them."

"The journalist was forced down, struck, handcuffed, and her pants were lowered revealing her bare buttocks," the lawyer said. "Not anyone should be treated like that in this metropolis, in this nation or any other place in the world."

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