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Legal representatives acting for a producer from Chicago's local TV network who was temporarily detained by government officers last week characterize the event as "an occurrence that ought to alarm and horrify each individual in this country".

Details of the Detainment

The journalist, a American national and WGN employee, was taken into custody on Friday by government officers during an Immigration and Customs Enforcement action in Chicago's Lincoln Square neighborhood. Footage from the location show the producer being forced to the ground by two agents before she is restrained and placed in a vehicle.

At the moment, a homeland security official claimed that Brockman "hurled items at border patrol's car" and was "placed under arrest for attacking an officer".

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

Attorney's Response

In a news release issued by attorneys representing Brockman on Tuesday, her legal team disputed the government's account. They stated they "strongly refute any claim that she assaulted anyone" and that "Brockman was the one who was violently assaulted by officers on her way to work" on the date in question.

Her attorneys explain that at the moment of the detainment, Brockman was "not performing in any official role as an staff member for WGN" but that she was just "heading to the bus stop as part of her daily travel when she was confronted by Border Patrol agents.

"Brockman, who is a American citizen born in this country, was forcibly held on Foster Avenue," the release continues. "As this happened, bystanders on the street began filming the event and asked Ms Brockman her name."

The release says that she told the bystanders her name and that she was employed at the station, in the hopes that "a person would notify her workplace so colleagues would know that she would not be coming at work that day", her lawyers stated.

Consequences and Legal Action

Based on her lawyers, Brockman was kept in federal custody for about seven hours before being released.

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

"Brad Thomson, a legal representative, added in the release: "When equipped, covered, federal agents are taking US citizens off the street as they travel to work and throwing them in non-descript cars, you can only conceive what these officers must be willing to do to our foreign-born residents and individuals who dare to protest against them."

"Ms Brockman was forced down, battered, restrained, and her pants were lowered exposing her bare buttocks," the lawyer stated. "Not anyone should be handled like that in this city, in this country or anywhere else in the globe."

ICE, the Department of Homeland Security, and the US Customs and Border Protection did not immediately respond to requests for comment from news outlets.