Attorneys for a Chicago TV producer who was briefly detained by federal agents last week say what happened to her “should be alarming and horrifying to every person in this country.”
Debbie Brockman, a U.S. citizen and employee at WGN-TV, was arrested Friday during an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) operation in Chicago’s Lincoln Square neighborhood. Videos from the scene show two agents forcing her to the ground before handcuffing her and putting her into a van.
A homeland security official later claimed Brockman had “thrown objects at border patrol’s car” and was “placed under arrest for assault on a federal law enforcement officer.” That same day, WGN confirmed Brockman had been released from custody and that no charges were filed.
In a statement sent to The Guardian and several Chicago news outlets on Tuesday, Brockman’s attorneys rejected the government’s version of events. They said they “adamantly deny any allegation that she assaulted anyone” and insisted that “Brockman was the one who was violently assaulted by federal agents on her way to work” on October 10.
FEDERAL AGENTS
DETAIN PRODUCER
Undignified ICE arrest of TV producer… before attempt to save her goes wrong pic.twitter.com/RS5h4qqM60— Simo Saadi🇺🇸🇲🇦 (@Simo7809957085) October 14, 2025
According to her lawyers, Brockman wasn’t acting in any professional capacity for WGN at the time. She was simply “walking to the bus stop as part of her morning commute when she was attacked by Border Patrol agents.”
“Brockman, who is a US citizen born in this country, was violently detained on Foster Avenue,” the statement said. “As this occurred, individuals on the street began recording the incident and asked Ms Brockman her name.”
Brockman reportedly told bystanders who she was and where she worked, hoping “someone would notify her employer so coworkers would know that she would not be arriving at work that day,” her attorneys said. They added that she was held for about seven hours before being released.
“She has not been charged with any crimes and she intends to pursue all legal avenues available to her to vindicate her rights and hold the federal authorities accountable for their actions,” the statement continued.
Brad Thomson, one of Brockman’s attorneys, said, “If armed, masked, federal agents are snatching US citizens off the street as they walk to work and throwing them in unmarked vehicles, you can only imagine what these agents must be willing to do to our immigrant neighbors and people who dare to speak out against them.
“Ms Brockman was taken to the ground, battered, handcuffed, and her pants were pulled down exposing her bare buttocks,” Thomson added. “No one should be treated like that in this city, in this country or anywhere else in the world.”
ICE, the Department of Homeland Security, and U.S. Customs and Border Protection did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
