A video editor and producer for Chicago’s WGN television station was arrested by masked federal agents on Friday morning, and later released, during an Ice raid on the city’s North Side, as shown in videos shared widely on social media.
Videos show Debbie Brockman being violently forced to the ground by two agents before she is handcuffed and put in a van. A local resident filming the incident asks her name while she is face-down on the street being handcuffed.
“Debbie Brockman,” she replies. “I work for WGN. Please let them know.”
In another video, onlookers shout at the agents and call them “fascists”, telling them to “get out of our neighborhood, get out of our city”. The agents get in the van and scrape the side of another car, whose driver is still inside, as they speed off, tearing off part of its bumper.
A homeland security official said Brockman stood 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 behest of Trump officials – have been scouring the city for people to deport.