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Attorneys representing a journalist from the city of Chicago's local TV network who was temporarily detained by government officers last week describe the incident as "something that should alarm and frighten every person in this country".

Details of the Arrest

Debbie Brockman, a US citizen and WGN employee, was taken into custody on Friday by government officers during an Immigration and Customs Enforcement operation in a North Side Chicago area. Footage from the location show the producer being forced to the ground by two agents before she is handcuffed and put in a van.

At the moment, a homeland security official stated that the individual "threw objects at border patrol's car" and was "detained for attacking an officer".

Later on Friday, the television station announced that their employee had been freed from detention and that no charges had been pressed against her.

Legal Team's Reaction

In a news release released by attorneys representing the journalist on earlier this week, her representatives challenged the official version. They declared they "strongly refute any allegation that she attacked anyone" and that "Brockman was the one who was physically attacked by federal agents on her way to work" on the date in question.

Her attorneys explain that at the time of the detainment, the journalist was "not acting in any professional capacity as an staff member for WGN" but that she was just "heading to the transit point as part of her morning commute when she was attacked by Border Patrol agents.

"Brockman, who is a US Citizen born in this country, was forcibly held on Foster Avenue," the release adds. "As this occurred, individuals on the street began filming the incident 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 "a person would notify her employer so coworkers would know that she would not be coming at work that day", her attorneys stated.

Aftermath and Legal Action

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

"She has not been charged with any offenses and she intends to pursue all legal avenues available to her to uphold her entitlements and hold the federal authorities accountable for their conduct," the release notes.

"One attorney, a legal representative, commented in the statement: "When equipped, masked, federal agents are snatching American nationals off the street as they walk to work and placing them in non-descript cars, you can only conceive what these agents must be willing to do to our foreign-born residents and individuals who dare to speak out against them."

"The journalist was forced down, struck, handcuffed, and her trousers were lowered exposing her uncovered skin," the lawyer stated. "Not anyone should be treated like that in this city, in this nation or anywhere else in the world."

ICE, the federal agency, and the US Customs and Border Protection did not provide a prompt reply to requests for comment from the media.