🔗 Share this article

Legal representatives acting for a producer from the city of Chicago's WGN television station who was temporarily detained by federal agents last week characterize the incident as "something that should concern and frighten 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 action in a North Side Chicago area. Footage from the scene show Brockman being forced to the ground by two agents before she is handcuffed and placed in a van.

At the moment, a government spokesperson claimed that Brockman "hurled items at an official vehicle" and was "detained for assault on a federal law enforcement officer".

Subsequently that day, WGN confirmed that their employee had been freed from detention and that no accusations had been pressed against her.

Attorney's Reaction

In a news release issued by attorneys acting for the journalist on earlier this week, her legal team disputed the official version. They declared they "strongly refute any allegation that she attacked anyone" and that "Brockman was the one who was violently assaulted by federal agents on her way to work" on the date in question.

Her attorneys explain that at the time of the detainment, Brockman was "not performing in any official role as an employee for WGN" but that she was just "heading to the bus stop as part of her daily travel when she was attacked by federal officers.

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

The statement indicates that she informed the bystanders her name and that she worked at the station, in the hopes that "someone would notify her workplace so coworkers would know that she would not be arriving at work that day", her attorneys said.

Consequences and Next Steps

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

"The individual has not been charged with any offenses and she intends to explore all legal avenues available to her to uphold her entitlements and ensure government accountability for their conduct," the release notes.

"One attorney, a legal representative, commented in the release: "If armed, masked, government officers are snatching American nationals off the street as they walk to work and placing them in non-descript cars, you can only imagine what these officers must be prepared to do to our immigrant neighbors and individuals who dare to speak out against them."

"Ms Brockman was forced down, struck, restrained, and her trousers were pulled down revealing her bare buttocks," Thomson stated. "Not anyone should be handled like that in this city, in this country or any other place in the world."

Immigration authorities, the federal agency, and the US Customs and Border Protection did not immediately respond to inquiries from news outlets.