🔗 Share this article

Attorneys acting for a producer from Chicago's WGN television station who was briefly held by federal agents last week characterize the incident as "something that should alarm and horrify each individual in this nation".

Particulars of the Arrest

Debbie Brockman, a US citizen and station staff member, was taken into custody on Friday by federal agents during an ICE action in a North Side Chicago area. Footage from the location show Brockman being pushed down by two agents before she is handcuffed and placed in a van.

At the time, a government spokesperson stated that the individual "threw objects 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 charges had been filed against her.

Attorney's Reaction

In a statement issued by attorneys acting for Brockman on earlier this week, her legal team disputed the official version. They declared they "strongly refute any claim that she assaulted anyone" and that "She was the one who was physically attacked by officers on her way to work" on the date in question.

Her attorneys explain that at the moment of the arrest, the journalist was "not performing in any professional capacity as an staff member for the station" but that she was just "heading to the bus stop as part of her morning commute when she was attacked by Border Patrol agents.

"The individual, who is a US Citizen native to the US, was violently detained on a city street," the statement adds. "As this happened, individuals on the street began filming the incident and asked Ms Brockman her name."

The statement indicates that she told the onlookers 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 arriving at work that day", her attorneys said.

Aftermath and Legal Action

According to her lawyers, Brockman was kept in government detention for about several hours before being freed.

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

"Brad Thomson, one of her attorneys, commented in the statement: "When equipped, covered, federal agents are snatching US citizens off the street as they walk to work and placing them in unmarked vehicles, you can only conceive what these officers must be prepared to do to our immigrant neighbors and people who dare to protest against them."

"The journalist was forced down, struck, handcuffed, and her trousers were lowered exposing her uncovered skin," the lawyer stated. "Not anyone should be handled like that in this metropolis, in this country or any other place in the globe."

ICE, the federal agency, and the border agency did not immediately respond to inquiries from news outlets.