Windy City Television Journalist's Detainment in ICE Operation Called 'Alarming and Horrifying', Lawyers State
Legal representatives acting for a producer from Chicago's WGN television station who was temporarily detained by federal agents last week describe the event as "something that should alarm and frighten every person in this nation".
Particulars of the Arrest
The journalist, a US citizen and station staff member, 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 scene show Brockman being pushed down by officers before she is handcuffed and put in a van.
At the moment, a government spokesperson stated that Brockman "threw objects at border patrol's car" and was "detained for assault on a federal law enforcement officer".
Subsequently that day, the television station announced that Brockman had been freed from detention and that no charges had been filed against her.
Legal Team's Reaction
In a news release issued by lawyers representing Brockman on Tuesday, her legal team disputed the official version. They declared they "strongly refute 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 say that at the moment of the arrest, the journalist was "not performing in any official role as an staff member for WGN" but that she was just "walking to the bus stop as part of her daily travel when she was attacked by Border Patrol agents.
"Brockman, who is a US Citizen born in this country, was forcibly held on Foster Avenue," the statement adds. "As this occurred, individuals on the street began filming the incident and asked Ms Brockman her name."
The release says that she told the onlookers her name and that she was employed at WGN, in the hopes that "someone would notify her workplace so colleagues would know that she would not be coming at work that day", her attorneys said.
Aftermath and Next Steps
According to her lawyers, Brockman was kept in government detention for about seven hours before being released.
"She has not been charged with any offenses and she plans to explore all legal options available to her to uphold her entitlements and hold the federal authorities accountable for their actions," the statement adds.
"Brad Thomson, one of her attorneys, commented in the statement: "If armed, masked, federal agents are taking American nationals off the street as they walk to work and throwing them in unmarked vehicles, you can only imagine what these officers must be prepared to do to our immigrant neighbors and individuals who dare to protest against them."
"The journalist was forced down, struck, restrained, and her trousers were pulled down revealing her bare buttocks," the lawyer said. "No one should be handled like that in this metropolis, in this nation or any other place in the globe."
ICE, the federal agency, and the border agency did not immediately respond to inquiries from the media.
