Windy City Television Reporter's Arrest in Immigration Operation Called 'Disturbing and Terrifying', Attorneys State
Legal representatives representing a producer from Chicago's WGN television station who was briefly held by federal agents 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 arrested on the weekend by government officers during an ICE action in Chicago's Lincoln Square neighborhood. Videos from the scene show the producer being forced to the ground by officers before she is restrained and put in a vehicle.
At the moment, a government spokesperson stated that the individual "hurled items at an official vehicle" and was "detained for attacking an officer".
Subsequently that day, the television station confirmed that Brockman had been released from federal custody and that no accusations had been pressed against her.
Attorney's Reaction
In a news release released by attorneys acting for the journalist on earlier this week, her representatives disputed the government's account. They stated they "strongly refute any claim that she attacked anyone" and that "She was the one who was violently assaulted by officers on her way to work" on the date in question.
Her lawyers say that at the moment of the arrest, Brockman was "not acting in any official role as an staff member for WGN" but that she was just "heading to the transit point as part of her daily travel when she was attacked by federal officers.
"Brockman, who is a American citizen native to the US, was violently detained on a city street," the statement continues. "As this occurred, bystanders on the street began filming the event and inquired Ms Brockman her name."
The release says that she informed the onlookers her name and that she was employed at the station, in the hopes that "someone would inform her employer so coworkers would know that she would not be arriving at work that day", her attorneys said.
Consequences and Legal Action
According to her lawyers, the journalist was held in government detention for about seven hours before being freed.
"She has not been charged with any offenses and she plans to explore all legal avenues open to her to uphold her entitlements and hold the federal authorities accountable for their actions," the statement notes.
"One attorney, one of her attorneys, commented in the release: "When equipped, covered, government officers are snatching American nationals off the street as they travel to work and placing 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, restrained, and her pants were lowered exposing her bare buttocks," Thomson stated. "No one should be treated like that in this metropolis, in this country or anywhere else in the world."
Immigration authorities, the federal agency, and the US Customs and Border Protection did not immediately respond to inquiries from news outlets.
