A producer with Chicago television station WGN was violently apprehended and detained by Border Patrol agents on the city’s northside Friday, as seen in videos captured by witnesses.
The clash occurred around 8:30 a.m. during the morning rush hour in the Lincoln Square neighborhood, according to the Chicago Tribune.
Bystanders filming the arrest of Debbie Brockman, who’s been with the station for more than 14 years, recorded the producer as she was held facedown to the ground by two masked ICE agents, who handcuff her as she cries out in pain.
In one the videos, she identifies herself as Debbie Brockman and pleads with the person recording to let WGN know. In another, she can be seen getting shoved into a van before agents get in and drive off, smashing the side of another vehicle and ripping off part of its bumper in the process.
Roughly a couple dozen pedestrians watched officers manhandle and handcuff Brockman, with one saying she was “tackled” and brought out into the street.
Area resident Josh Thomas, who recorded at least two of the videos, told WGN he heard “yelling and screaming and honking” from his condo nearby and ran downstairs to see Brockman being detained.
“They claimed that the WGN employee was obstructing justice, even though she was, like all of us, just standing there, taking video,” Thomas said.
A 36-year-old law firm worker who witnessed the incident similarly said the agents claimed they were detaining Brockman for obstructing officers, but insisted she hadn’t interfered with any operations.
Homeland Security Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin claimed otherwise.
“U.S. Border Patrol was conducting immigration enforcement operations when several violent agitators used their vehicles to block in agents in an effort to impede and assault federal officers. In fear of public safety and of law enforcement, officers used their service vehicle to strike a suspect’s vehicle and create an opening,” McLaughlin said in statement sent to the Daily News.
“As agents were driving, Deborah Brockman, a U.S. citizen, threw objects at Border Patrol’s car and she was placed under arrest for assault on a federal law enforcement officer,” McLaughlin continued.
According to WGN, she was released from federal custody, without charges, at around 3 p.m.
The recent ICE activity on Chicago’s North Side has had area residents high alert amid the Trump administration’s ongoing crackdown in mostly Democratic cities. One witness told WGN that the incident on Friday came as federal agents appeared to be targeting men working on a nearby property.
Earlier this week, video started making the rounds online of a Chicago pastor getting blasted in the head by chemical bullets as he peacefully protested ICE activity in the Broadview suburb of the city.
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