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Legal representatives representing a journalist from Chicago's WGN television station who was temporarily detained by federal agents last week characterize the event as "an occurrence that ought to concern and horrify every person in this nation".

Particulars 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 depict the producer being pushed down by officers before she is handcuffed and put in a vehicle.

At the moment, a government spokesperson claimed that Brockman "threw objects at border patrol's car" and was "placed under arrest for assault on a federal law enforcement officer".

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

Legal Team's Response

In a statement issued by lawyers representing 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 violently assaulted by federal agents on her way to work" on the date in question.

Her lawyers explain that at the moment of the arrest, Brockman was "not performing in any professional capacity 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 confronted by Border Patrol agents.

"Brockman, who is a US Citizen native to the US, was forcibly held on a city street," the release adds. "As this occurred, bystanders on the street began filming the event and asked her her name."

The release says that she told the onlookers her name and that she was employed at the station, in the hopes that "a person would notify her workplace 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, the journalist was kept in government detention for about seven hours before being released.

"She has not been charged with any offenses and she intends to pursue all legal options available to her to vindicate her entitlements and ensure government accountability for their actions," the release notes.

"Brad Thomson, a legal representative, added in the release: "When armed, covered, federal agents are taking American nationals off the street as they walk to work and throwing them in unmarked vehicles, you can only conceive what these agents must be willing to do to our foreign-born residents and individuals who choose to speak out against them."

"The journalist was forced down, battered, restrained, and her pants were pulled down revealing her bare buttocks," Thomson said. "Not anyone should be handled like that in this metropolis, in this country or any other place in the globe."

Immigration authorities, the Department of Homeland Security, and the US Customs and Border Protection did not immediately respond to inquiries from the media.