🔗 Share this article Chicago Television Reporter's Detainment in Immigration Operation Described as 'Alarming and Terrifying', Lawyers Assert Attorneys representing a journalist from Chicago's local TV network who was temporarily detained by government officers last week describe the incident as "something that should concern and horrify each individual in this country". Particulars of the Detainment Debbie Brockman, a American national and station staff member, was arrested on the weekend by government officers during an ICE action in Chicago's Lincoln Square neighborhood. Footage from the location show Brockman being forced to the ground by officers before she is restrained and put in a vehicle. At the time, a government spokesperson claimed that Brockman "threw objects at an official vehicle" and was "placed under arrest for assault on a federal law enforcement officer". Subsequently that day, the television station confirmed that Brockman had been released from federal custody and that no accusations had been filed against her. Legal Team's Reaction In a news release issued by attorneys representing Brockman on earlier this week, her legal team disputed the official version. They stated they "strongly refute any claim that she assaulted anyone" and that "She 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 staff member 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 forcibly held on Foster Avenue," the release adds. "As this occurred, bystanders on the street began recording the event and asked her her name." The release indicates that she told the bystanders her name and that she was employed at WGN, 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 said. Aftermath and Legal Action According to her lawyers, the journalist was held 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 avenues available to her to vindicate her entitlements and hold the federal authorities accountable for their conduct," the release adds. "Brad Thomson, a legal representative, added in the release: "If equipped, masked, federal agents are snatching American nationals off the street as they walk to work and placing them in unmarked vehicles, you can only conceive what these officers must be prepared to do to our foreign-born residents and individuals who choose to speak out against them." "The journalist was taken to the ground, struck, handcuffed, and her trousers were pulled down revealing her bare buttocks," Thomson stated. "No one should be treated like that in this city, in this country or any other place in the world." ICE, the Department of Homeland Security, and the border agency did not provide a prompt reply to requests for comment from the media.