🔗 Share this article Windy City Television Reporter's Arrest in ICE Operation Called 'Disturbing and Terrifying', Lawyers Assert Attorneys acting for a journalist from the city of Chicago's local TV network who was briefly held by federal agents last week characterize the incident as "an occurrence that ought to alarm and frighten every person in this country". Details of the Arrest Debbie Brockman, a US citizen and station staff member, was taken into custody on Friday by government officers during an ICE action in a North Side Chicago area. Videos from the location depict Brockman being forced to the ground by two agents before she is handcuffed and put in a vehicle. At the moment, a homeland security official claimed that Brockman "hurled items at an official vehicle" and was "detained for assault on a federal law enforcement officer". Subsequently that day, the television station confirmed that Brockman had been freed from detention and that no accusations had been pressed against her. Legal Team's Reaction In a news release released by lawyers acting for the journalist on Tuesday, her representatives disputed the government's account. They declared they "adamantly deny any claim that she attacked anyone" and that "Brockman was the one who was violently assaulted by officers on her way to work" on 10 October. Her attorneys explain that at the moment of the detainment, the journalist was "not acting in any official role as an employee for WGN" but that she was just "walking to the bus stop as part of her morning commute 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 statement adds. "As this happened, bystanders on the street began filming the incident and asked Ms Brockman her name." The release indicates that she told the bystanders her name and that she worked at the station, in the hopes that "a person would inform her employer so colleagues would know that she would not be coming at work that day", her attorneys stated. Aftermath and Legal Action According to her lawyers, the journalist was held in government detention for about several hours before being released. "She has not been accused with any offenses and she plans to explore all legal options open to her to vindicate her rights and ensure government accountability for their conduct," the release notes. "Brad Thomson, a legal representative, added in the release: "If armed, masked, federal agents are taking US citizens off the street as they walk to work and throwing them in non-descript cars, you can only imagine what these agents must be willing to do to our immigrant neighbors and people who dare to speak out against them." "The journalist was forced down, struck, restrained, and her pants were pulled down revealing her bare buttocks," the lawyer said. "Not anyone should be handled like that in this city, in this nation or any other place in the globe." ICE, the federal agency, and the US Customs and Border Protection did not provide a prompt reply to requests for comment from news outlets.