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Legal representatives representing a producer from the city of Chicago's WGN television station who was temporarily detained by federal agents last week characterize the event as "something that should alarm and frighten each individual in this nation".

Particulars of the Arrest

Debbie Brockman, a US citizen and WGN employee, was taken into custody on Friday by federal agents during an Immigration and Customs Enforcement action in Chicago's Lincoln Square neighborhood. Videos from the scene show the producer being forced to the ground by two agents before she is handcuffed and put in a vehicle.

At the time, a homeland security official claimed that the individual "hurled items 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 released from federal custody and that no charges had been pressed against her.

Legal Team's Response

In a news release released by attorneys representing Brockman on Tuesday, her legal team disputed the government's account. They declared they "adamantly deny any claim that she attacked anyone" and that "She was the one who was physically attacked by federal agents on her way to work" on the date in question.

Her attorneys say that at the moment of the arrest, Brockman was "not performing in any professional capacity as an employee for WGN" but that she was just "walking to the transit point as part of her daily travel when she was confronted by Border Patrol agents.

"The individual, who is a US Citizen born in this country, was violently detained on Foster Avenue," the release adds. "As this happened, bystanders on the street began filming the incident and inquired Ms Brockman her name."

The statement says that she informed the onlookers her name and that she worked at the station, in the hopes that "a person would inform her employer so coworkers would know that she would not be coming at work that day", her lawyers stated.

Consequences and Next Steps

Based on her legal team, Brockman was held in federal custody for about seven hours before being released.

"The individual has not been charged with any crimes and she plans to explore all legal avenues open to her to vindicate her entitlements and hold the federal authorities accountable for their actions," the statement notes.

"One attorney, one of her attorneys, added in the release: "If armed, masked, government officers are snatching American nationals off the street as they walk to work and placing them in non-descript cars, you can only imagine what these officers must be willing to do to our foreign-born residents and people who dare to speak out against them."

"Ms Brockman was forced down, struck, restrained, and her trousers were pulled down exposing her uncovered skin," Thomson stated. "No one should be handled like that in this city, in this country or any other place in the globe."

ICE, the federal agency, and the US Customs and Border Protection did not immediately respond to inquiries from news outlets.