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Legal representatives representing a producer from the city of Chicago's local TV network who was briefly held by government officers last week describe the event as "an occurrence that ought to alarm and horrify each individual in this nation".

Details of the Detainment

Debbie Brockman, a US citizen and WGN employee, was taken into custody on Friday by federal agents during an Immigration and Customs Enforcement operation in a North Side Chicago area. Videos from the location show Brockman being forced to the ground by two agents before she is restrained and placed in a vehicle.

At the time, a government spokesperson claimed that Brockman "hurled items at an official vehicle" and was "detained for attacking an officer".

Subsequently that day, the television station announced that their employee had been released from federal custody and that no accusations had been filed against her.

Legal Team's Response

In a statement issued by attorneys representing Brockman on earlier this week, her legal team disputed the official version. They stated they "strongly refute any allegation that she attacked anyone" and that "She was the one who was physically attacked by federal agents on her way to work" on the date in question.

Her attorneys explain that at the moment of the arrest, Brockman 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 morning commute when she was attacked by federal officers.

"Brockman, who is a US Citizen native to the US, was violently detained on a city street," the release continues. "As this occurred, individuals on the street began filming the event and inquired 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 notify her employer so colleagues would know that she would not be coming at work that day", her attorneys said.

Consequences and Legal Action

According to her legal team, Brockman was held in federal custody for about several hours before being released.

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

"Brad Thomson, a legal representative, commented in the statement: "If equipped, masked, federal agents are taking American nationals off the street as they travel to work and throwing them in unmarked vehicles, you can only conceive what these officers must be willing to do to our immigrant neighbors and individuals who choose to protest against them."

"Ms Brockman was forced down, struck, handcuffed, and her trousers were pulled down exposing her bare buttocks," 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.