🔗 Share this article

Legal representatives representing a journalist from the city of Chicago's WGN television station who was temporarily detained by federal agents last week characterize the incident as "an occurrence that ought to alarm and horrify each individual in this nation".

Particulars of the Arrest

Debbie Brockman, a US citizen and station staff member, was arrested on the weekend by government officers during an ICE action in a North Side Chicago area. Videos from the location depict the producer being pushed down by two agents before she is handcuffed and placed in a vehicle.

At the moment, a government spokesperson claimed that the individual "hurled items at border patrol's car" and was "detained for assault on a federal law enforcement officer".

Later on Friday, the television station confirmed that their employee had been released from federal custody and that no accusations had been filed against her.

Attorney's Response

In a statement issued by attorneys acting for the journalist on earlier this week, her legal team disputed the government's account. They declared they "strongly refute any claim that she assaulted anyone" and that "She was the one who was violently assaulted by federal agents on her way to work" on 10 October.

Her attorneys explain that at the time of the arrest, Brockman was "not performing in any official role as an staff member for WGN" but that she was just "walking to the transit point as part of her morning commute when she was confronted by federal officers.

"Brockman, who is a American citizen native to the US, was violently detained on Foster Avenue," the statement continues. "As this occurred, individuals on the street began recording the event and asked her her name."

The release says that she informed the bystanders her name and that she worked at WGN, in the hopes that "someone would notify her workplace so coworkers would know that she would not be coming at work that day", her lawyers said.

Aftermath and Legal Action

According to her lawyers, the journalist was kept in government detention for about several hours before being freed.

"She has not been accused with any crimes and she plans to pursue all legal options available to her to vindicate her entitlements and hold the federal authorities accountable for their actions," the statement notes.

"One attorney, a legal representative, added in the statement: "When equipped, masked, government officers are taking US citizens off the street as they travel to work and placing them in non-descript cars, you can only conceive what these officers must be willing to do to our immigrant neighbors and people who choose to protest against them."

"Ms Brockman was forced down, battered, handcuffed, and her trousers were pulled down exposing her uncovered skin," the lawyer stated. "No one should be handled like that in this city, in this nation or anywhere else in the globe."

Immigration authorities, the Department of Homeland Security, and the border agency did not immediately respond to inquiries from the media.