🔗 Share this article

Legal representatives acting for a journalist from the city of Chicago's WGN television station who was briefly held by government officers last week describe the event as "an occurrence that ought to alarm and horrify every person in this country".

Particulars of the Detainment

Debbie Brockman, a US citizen and WGN employee, was taken into custody on Friday by government officers during an Immigration and Customs Enforcement action in a North Side Chicago area. Videos from the location show Brockman being pushed down by two agents before she is restrained and placed in a van.

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

Subsequently that day, WGN confirmed that their employee had been released from federal custody and that no accusations had been pressed 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 government's account. They stated they "adamantly deny any claim that she attacked anyone" and that "She 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 arrest, the journalist was "not acting in any official role as an employee for the station" but that she was just "walking to the bus stop 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 forcibly held on Foster Avenue," the release adds. "As this occurred, bystanders on the street began recording the event and inquired her her name."

The statement says that she told 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 coming at work that day", her lawyers said.

Aftermath and Next Steps

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

"The individual has not been charged with any offenses and she intends to pursue all legal avenues open to her to vindicate her rights and ensure government accountability for their conduct," the statement notes.

"Brad Thomson, one of her attorneys, added in the statement: "When equipped, masked, government officers are taking US citizens off the street as they walk to work and placing them in unmarked vehicles, you can only imagine what these officers must be willing to do to our foreign-born residents and people who dare to protest against them."

"Ms Brockman was forced down, struck, restrained, and her trousers were pulled down exposing her uncovered skin," Thomson said. "Not anyone should be handled like that in this metropolis, in this country or anywhere else in the world."

Immigration authorities, the federal agency, and the border agency did not provide a prompt reply to inquiries from news outlets.