Chicago TV journalist pushed to ground and arrested during Ice raid, then later released | Chicago

A video editor and producer for Chicago television station WGN was arrested Friday morning by masked federal agents, then released, during an ICE raid on the city’s north side, videos widely shared on social media show.

Videos show Debbie Brockman violently tackled to the ground by two officers before being handcuffed and put in a van. A local resident filming the incident asks her name as she is handcuffed face down in the street.

“Debbie Brockman,” she replies. “I work for WGN. Please let them know.”

In another video, spectators call out to the officers and call them “fascists,” telling them to “get out of our neighborhood, out of our city.” The officers get into the van and scrape the side of another car, whose driver is still inside, as they accelerate, ripping off part of its bumper.

A Homeland Security official said Brockman was accused of assaulting a federal law enforcement officer by throwing objects at a vehicle.

The incident took place in Chicago’s Lincoln Square neighborhood, as immigration agents — at the request of Trump officials — were scouring the city for people to deport.

Tightening immigration controls in Chicago have sparked protests.

Nancy Molden, a local resident, told the Chicago Sun-Times that “it was absolutely horrible” to see Brockman’s arrest in person.

“It’s the scariest thing I’ve seen in Chicago, living here for about 20 years,” Molden said.

Witnesses told local media that officers were targeting a small group of landscapers, although this was not immediately confirmed. A second person, a man, also appears to have been arrested.

In one video, the man can be seen handcuffed in the back of the vehicle while Brockman is arrested. The person filming asks him his name in Spanish.

Tricia McLaughlin of the Department of Homeland Security said, “The U.S. Border Patrol was conducting immigration enforcement operations and several violent agitators used their vehicles to block agents in an attempt to obstruct and assault federal agents.

“Out of fear for public safety and law enforcement, the agents used their service vehicle to strike a suspect’s vehicle and create an opening. As the agents were driving, Deborah Brockman, a U.S. citizen, threw objects at the Border Patrol car and she was placed under arrest for assault on a federal law enforcement officer.”

WGN said the Border Patrol released the employee from federal custody at 3 p.m. Friday and that no charges had been filed in her case. The network is still seeking and obtaining video showing the moment leading up to the employee’s arrest.

Brockman’s arrest came days after prosecutors were forced to drop charges against anti-Ice protesters accused of assaulting federal agents while carrying weapons outside a Chicago immigration detention center — the move coming after grand jurors declined to return an indictment in the case.

On Thursday, a federal judge in Chicago issued a temporary restraining order preventing federal agents from using certain forceful tactics to quell protests or to prevent journalists from covering them.

The order prohibits federal officials from arresting, threatening to arrest, or using physical force against journalists unless authorities have established probable cause to believe that the journalists have committed a crime.