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Attorneys acting for a producer from the city of Chicago's local TV network who was briefly held by federal agents last week characterize the event as "something that should concern and horrify every person in this country".

Particulars of the Arrest

The journalist, a US citizen and WGN employee, was arrested on Friday by federal agents during an Immigration and Customs Enforcement action in Chicago's Lincoln Square neighborhood. Videos from the location depict Brockman being pushed down by two agents before she is restrained and placed in a van.

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

Subsequently that day, the television station announced that Brockman had been released from federal custody and that no charges had been filed against her.

Legal Team's Response

In a news release issued by lawyers acting for the journalist 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 federal agents 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 "walking to the bus stop as part of her daily travel when she was confronted by federal officers.

"The individual, who is a American citizen born in this country, was violently detained on a city street," the statement adds. "As this occurred, bystanders on the street began recording the event and inquired her her name."

The statement indicates that she informed the bystanders her name and that she was employed at the station, in the hopes that "someone would inform her employer so colleagues would know that she would not be coming at work that day", her attorneys stated.

Consequences and Next Steps

Based on her lawyers, Brockman was held in federal custody for about several hours before being freed.

"She has not been charged with any offenses and she plans to explore all legal avenues available to her to uphold her rights and hold the federal authorities accountable for their conduct," the statement notes.

"Brad Thomson, a legal representative, commented in the statement: "If equipped, covered, federal agents are snatching American nationals off the street as they travel to work and throwing them in non-descript cars, you can only imagine what these officers must be prepared to do to our foreign-born residents and individuals who choose to speak out against them."

"Ms Brockman was forced down, struck, restrained, and her pants were pulled down revealing her bare buttocks," Thomson stated. "No one should be handled like that in this city, in this country or anywhere else in the globe."

Immigration authorities, the Department of Homeland Security, and the border agency did not immediately respond to inquiries from the media.