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Attorneys representing a journalist 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 each individual in this nation".

Particulars of the Detainment

Debbie Brockman, a US citizen and station staff member, was taken into custody on Friday by government officers during an ICE operation in Chicago's Lincoln Square neighborhood. Videos from the scene depict the producer being forced to the ground by two agents before she is restrained and put in a van.

At the time, a homeland security official stated that the individual "hurled items at border patrol's car" and was "placed under arrest for assault on a federal law enforcement officer".

Later on Friday, WGN confirmed that their employee had been freed from detention and that no charges had been pressed against her.

Attorney's Reaction

In a news release released by lawyers acting for Brockman on earlier this week, her legal team challenged the government's account. They declared they "adamantly deny any allegation that she assaulted 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 time of the detainment, the journalist was "not performing in any professional capacity as an staff member for WGN" but that she was just "walking to the transit point as part of her morning commute when she was attacked by federal officers.

"The individual, who is a American citizen born in this country, was violently detained on Foster Avenue," the statement adds. "As this occurred, individuals on the street began recording the event and asked her her name."

The statement says that she told the onlookers 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.

Aftermath and Next Steps

Based on her legal team, the journalist was held in government detention for about seven hours before being freed.

"She has not been charged with any crimes and she plans to explore all legal avenues available to her to uphold her entitlements and ensure government accountability for their actions," the statement notes.

"One attorney, a legal representative, commented in the release: "When armed, masked, government officers 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 prepared to do to our foreign-born residents and individuals who dare to protest against them."

"Ms Brockman was taken to the ground, struck, handcuffed, and her pants were pulled down revealing her bare buttocks," the lawyer stated. "Not anyone 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 immediately respond to requests for comment from the media.