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Legal representatives acting for a journalist from the city of Chicago's local TV network who was briefly held by federal agents last week describe the event as "something that should concern and horrify each individual in this nation".

Particulars of the Arrest

The journalist, a US citizen and WGN employee, was arrested on Friday by government officers during an Immigration and Customs Enforcement action in Chicago's Lincoln Square neighborhood. Footage from the location show the producer being forced to the ground by two agents before she is handcuffed and put in a van.

At the moment, a government spokesperson stated that Brockman "hurled items at border patrol's car" and was "detained for assault on a federal law enforcement officer".

Later on Friday, the television station confirmed that Brockman had been released from federal custody and that no accusations had been pressed against her.

Attorney's Response

In a statement released by lawyers representing the journalist on earlier this week, her representatives challenged the government's account. They stated they "strongly refute any claim that she assaulted anyone" and that "Brockman 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 detainment, the journalist was "not performing in any official role as an staff member for the station" but that she was just "heading to the transit point as part of her daily travel when she was confronted by Border Patrol agents.

"Brockman, who is a American citizen native to the US, was violently detained on Foster Avenue," the release adds. "As this happened, bystanders on the street began recording the event and asked Ms Brockman her name."

The release indicates that she informed the onlookers 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 attorneys said.

Consequences and Legal Action

According to her lawyers, the journalist was kept in federal custody for about several hours before being freed.

"The individual has not been accused with any crimes and she intends to pursue all legal options open to her to vindicate her entitlements and ensure government accountability for their conduct," the release adds.

"One attorney, a legal representative, commented in the release: "If armed, masked, government officers are taking US citizens off the street as they walk to work and throwing them in unmarked vehicles, you can only conceive 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 taken to the ground, battered, handcuffed, and her pants were pulled down revealing her uncovered skin," the lawyer stated. "Not anyone should be handled like that in this metropolis, in this nation or anywhere else in the globe."

ICE, the Department of Homeland Security, and the border agency did not provide a prompt reply to inquiries from the media.