🔗 Share this article

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

Details of the Detainment

The journalist, a American national and station staff member, was taken into custody on the weekend by federal agents during an ICE operation in a North Side Chicago area. Videos from the location depict the producer being pushed down by officers before she is restrained and put in a van.

At the time, a homeland security official stated that Brockman "hurled items at border patrol's car" and was "placed under arrest for assault on a federal law enforcement officer".

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

Legal Team's Reaction

In a statement released by lawyers representing the journalist on earlier this week, her representatives disputed the official version. They declared they "strongly refute any allegation that she assaulted anyone" and that "Brockman was the one who was violently assaulted by officers on her way to work" on 10 October.

Her attorneys say that at the time of the detainment, Brockman was "not performing in any professional capacity 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 attacked by federal officers.

"Brockman, who is a American citizen native to the US, was violently detained on a city street," the release adds. "As this occurred, individuals on the street began filming the incident and inquired Ms Brockman her name."

The release says that she told the bystanders her name and that she worked at the station, in the hopes that "someone would notify her employer so colleagues would know that she would not be arriving at work that day", her lawyers said.

Consequences and Legal Action

According to her legal team, the journalist was held in government detention for about seven hours before being freed.

"The individual has not been charged with any crimes and she intends to explore all legal options open to her to vindicate her rights and hold the federal authorities accountable for their conduct," the release notes.

"One attorney, a legal representative, commented in the statement: "When equipped, covered, government officers are taking US citizens off the street as they travel to work and placing them in non-descript cars, you can only imagine what these agents must be willing to do to our immigrant neighbors and individuals who dare to protest against them."

"Ms Brockman was taken to the ground, battered, restrained, and her pants were pulled down revealing her bare buttocks," Thomson said. "Not anyone should be handled like that in this city, in this nation or anywhere else in the world."

ICE, the Department of Homeland Security, and the US Customs and Border Protection did not provide a prompt reply to requests for comment from news outlets.