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Attorneys representing a journalist from Chicago's WGN television station who was temporarily detained by federal agents last week characterize the incident as "an occurrence that ought to concern and frighten every person in this country".

Details of the Detainment

The journalist, a US citizen and WGN employee, was taken into custody on Friday by federal agents during an ICE action in Chicago's Lincoln Square neighborhood. Footage from the location show the producer being forced to the ground by officers before she is restrained and put in a vehicle.

At the moment, a government spokesperson stated that Brockman "hurled items at an official vehicle" and was "detained for assault on a federal law enforcement officer".

Subsequently that day, WGN announced that their employee had been freed from detention and that no accusations had been pressed against her.

Legal Team's Reaction

In a news release issued by lawyers acting for the journalist on earlier this week, her legal team challenged the government's account. They declared they "strongly refute 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 detainment, Brockman was "not acting in any professional capacity as an employee for WGN" but that she was just "heading to the bus stop as part of her daily travel when she was attacked by Border Patrol agents.

"The individual, who is a American citizen native to the US, was forcibly held on a city street," the statement adds. "As this occurred, bystanders on the street began filming the event and asked Ms Brockman her name."

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

Aftermath and Next Steps

According to her legal team, the journalist was held in federal custody for about several hours before being released.

"The individual has not been charged with any offenses and she intends to pursue all legal avenues available 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: "When armed, covered, government officers are taking American nationals off the street as they travel to work and placing them in unmarked vehicles, you can only conceive what these agents must be willing to do to our foreign-born residents and individuals who choose to speak out against them."

"Ms Brockman was taken to the ground, struck, restrained, and her pants were pulled down exposing her uncovered skin," Thomson 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 immediately respond to requests for comment from the media.