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Attorneys representing a producer from the city of Chicago's WGN television station who was briefly held by federal agents last week characterize the event as "something that should alarm and horrify every person in this country".

Details of the Arrest

Debbie Brockman, a US citizen and station staff member, was arrested on Friday by government officers during an Immigration and Customs Enforcement action in a North Side Chicago area. Footage from the scene depict the producer being pushed down by officers before she is handcuffed and put in a vehicle.

At the time, a government spokesperson stated that the individual "hurled items at border patrol's car" and was "detained for attacking an officer".

Later on Friday, the television station confirmed 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 lawyers representing the journalist on Tuesday, her representatives challenged the official version. They declared they "strongly refute any allegation 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 lawyers explain that at the moment of the detainment, the journalist was "not acting in any official role as an staff member for the station" but that she was just "heading to the bus stop as part of her morning commute when she was confronted by federal officers.

"The individual, who is a American citizen born in this country, was violently detained on Foster Avenue," the statement adds. "As this happened, individuals on the street began filming the event and asked her her name."

The statement says that she informed the bystanders her name and that she worked at the station, in the hopes that "someone would inform her workplace so colleagues would know that she would not be coming at work that day", her lawyers stated.

Aftermath and Legal Action

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

"The individual has not been accused with any offenses and she plans to pursue all legal avenues available to her to uphold her entitlements and ensure government accountability for their actions," the statement notes.

"Brad Thomson, a legal representative, commented in the release: "When equipped, masked, government officers are snatching US citizens off the street as they walk to work and placing them in unmarked vehicles, 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."

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

ICE, the federal agency, and the border agency did not provide a prompt reply to requests for comment from news outlets.