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Attorneys acting for a journalist from the city of Chicago's local TV network who was briefly held by federal agents last week describe the event as "something that should alarm and horrify every person in this country".

Particulars of the Detainment

The journalist, a US citizen and WGN employee, was arrested on Friday by federal agents during an ICE operation in Chicago's Lincoln Square neighborhood. Footage from the location depict Brockman being forced to the ground by officers before she is restrained and put in a van.

At the time, a homeland security official stated that Brockman "threw objects 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 released from federal custody and that no accusations had been filed against her.

Attorney's Response

In a statement released by lawyers representing the journalist on earlier this week, her legal team challenged the official version. They stated they "adamantly deny any claim that she attacked anyone" and that "Brockman was the one who was violently assaulted by officers on her way to work" on 10 October.

Her attorneys say that at the moment of the detainment, the journalist was "not performing in any professional capacity as an staff member 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.

"Brockman, who is a US Citizen native to the US, was violently detained on a city street," the statement continues. "As this occurred, bystanders on the street began filming the event and asked Ms Brockman her name."

The statement indicates that she informed the bystanders her name and that she was employed at the station, in the hopes that "someone would inform her workplace so coworkers would know that she would not be coming at work that day", her lawyers said.

Consequences and Legal Action

According to her legal team, Brockman was kept in government detention for about several hours before being released.

"The individual has not been accused with any offenses and she intends to explore all legal options open to her to uphold her rights and hold the federal authorities accountable for their conduct," the release notes.

"One attorney, one of her attorneys, commented in the release: "If armed, covered, federal agents are snatching US citizens off the street as they travel to work and placing them in unmarked vehicles, you can only imagine what these agents must be prepared to do to our immigrant neighbors and people who choose to speak out against them."

"Ms Brockman was taken to the ground, struck, handcuffed, and her trousers were pulled down exposing her uncovered skin," Thomson said. "Not anyone should be handled like that in this metropolis, in this nation or any other place in the world."

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