🔗 Share this article Chicago Television Journalist's Detainment in ICE Operation Described as 'Alarming and Terrifying', Attorneys State Attorneys acting for a journalist from Chicago's local TV network who was temporarily detained by federal agents last week describe the incident as "something that should concern and frighten each individual in this nation". Details of the Arrest The journalist, a American national and WGN employee, was taken into custody on Friday by federal agents during an ICE operation in Chicago's Lincoln Square neighborhood. Videos from the scene show Brockman being forced to the ground by two agents before she is handcuffed and placed in a vehicle. At the moment, a homeland security official claimed that Brockman "hurled items at border patrol's car" and was "detained for attacking an officer". Subsequently that day, WGN announced that Brockman had been freed from detention and that no accusations had been filed against her. Legal Team's Response In a news release issued by lawyers acting for the journalist on earlier this week, her representatives challenged the official version. They stated they "adamantly deny any claim that she assaulted anyone" and that "Brockman was the one who was physically attacked by officers on her way to work" on 10 October. Her attorneys say that at the moment of the detainment, the journalist was "not acting in any official role as an staff member for WGN" but that she was just "walking to the bus stop as part of her daily travel when she was confronted by Border Patrol agents. "Brockman, who is a US Citizen born in this country, was violently detained on a city street," the statement 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 employer so colleagues would know that she would not be coming at work that day", her attorneys stated. Consequences and Legal Action Based on her legal team, the journalist was kept in federal custody for about several hours before being freed. "She has not been charged with any offenses and she intends to explore all legal avenues available to her to uphold her rights and hold the federal authorities accountable for their actions," the release notes. "One attorney, a legal representative, commented in the statement: "When equipped, masked, federal agents are taking 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 prepared to do to our foreign-born residents and people who dare to protest against them." "The journalist was taken to the ground, battered, restrained, and her trousers were lowered revealing her uncovered skin," Thomson 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 US Customs and Border Protection did not provide a prompt reply to requests for comment from the media.