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

Details of the Detainment

The journalist, a US citizen and station staff member, was arrested on Friday by government officers during an Immigration and Customs Enforcement operation in a North Side Chicago area. Videos from the location show Brockman being pushed down 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 an official vehicle" and was "detained for assault on a federal law enforcement officer".

Subsequently that day, WGN confirmed that their employee had been released from federal custody and that no charges had been pressed against her.

Attorney's Response

In a news release issued by attorneys acting for Brockman on Tuesday, her representatives disputed the government's account. They declared they "adamantly deny 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 explain that at the moment of the arrest, the journalist was "not acting in any official role as an employee for the station" but that she was just "walking to the transit point as part of her morning commute when she was confronted by federal officers.

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

The release indicates that she informed the onlookers her name and that she was employed at WGN, in the hopes that "someone would inform her workplace so coworkers would know that she would not be arriving at work that day", her attorneys said.

Aftermath and Legal Action

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

"She has not been accused with any crimes and she plans to pursue all legal options open to her to uphold her entitlements and ensure government accountability for their conduct," the release adds.

"Brad Thomson, one of her attorneys, added in the release: "If equipped, covered, government officers are taking US citizens off the street as they walk to work and throwing them in unmarked vehicles, you can only conceive what these officers must be willing to do to our foreign-born residents and people who dare to speak out against them."

"The journalist was forced down, struck, handcuffed, and her pants were pulled down revealing her uncovered skin," Thomson stated. "Not anyone should be treated like that in this city, in this country or any other place in the globe."

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