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Legal representatives acting for a journalist from Chicago's WGN television station who was briefly held by federal agents last week describe the incident as "an occurrence that ought to alarm and horrify every person 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 Immigration and Customs Enforcement operation in a North Side Chicago area. Videos from the scene show Brockman being forced to the ground by two agents before she is restrained and placed in a van.

At the moment, a homeland security official claimed that Brockman "threw objects at border patrol's car" and was "placed under arrest for attacking an officer".

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

Attorney's Response

In a statement released by attorneys representing Brockman on Tuesday, her legal team challenged the government's account. They stated they "strongly refute any claim that she attacked anyone" and that "Brockman was the one who was violently assaulted by federal agents on her way to work" on 10 October.

Her attorneys explain that at the moment of the arrest, the journalist was "not performing in any professional capacity as an employee for the station" but that she was just "walking to the transit point as part of her morning commute when she was confronted by federal officers.

"The individual, 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 indicates that she told the bystanders her name and that she was employed at the station, in the hopes that "someone would inform her employer so coworkers would know that she would not be arriving at work that day", her attorneys said.

Aftermath and Next Steps

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

"The individual has not been charged with any offenses and she plans to explore all legal avenues available to her to vindicate her rights and ensure government accountability for their conduct," the release notes.

"One attorney, a legal representative, added in the statement: "When armed, covered, federal agents are taking US citizens off the street as they travel to work and throwing 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 choose to speak out against them."

"The journalist was taken to the ground, struck, restrained, and her trousers were pulled down revealing her uncovered skin," the lawyer said. "Not anyone should be handled like that in this city, in this nation or any other place in the globe."

ICE, the Department of Homeland Security, and the US Customs and Border Protection did not immediately respond to inquiries from the media.