A Chicago-based news producer was violently detained by U.S. Border Patrol agents amid President Donald Trump’s ongoing immigration enforcement actions.
Debbie Brockman was taken into custody by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) on the morning of Friday, Oct. 10, in the Lincoln Square neighborhood on Chicago’s North Side, according to reports from WGN-TV, the Chicago Tribune, and ABC 7 Eyewitness News.
The incident, which occurred around 8:30 a.m. local time, was captured from multiple angles on video.
Footage shared on X shows two Border Patrol agents forcing Brockman—who identified herself to bystanders as an employee of WGN—onto the ground. In another clip obtained by the Chicago Tribune, she appears distressed as agents hold her down, telling a bystander who asked for her name: “Debbie Brockman. I work for WGN. Please let them know.”
Three agents wearing black face masks then attempted to place Brockman in an unmarked minivan, according to the same footage.
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Brockman is a U.S. citizen and has worked for WGN-TV for over 14 years, according to her LinkedIn profile.
In a statement provided to multiple outlets, the Department of Homeland Security said Brockman allegedly threw objects at a Border Patrol vehicle and was arrested on suspicion of assaulting a federal law enforcement officer.
An eyewitness, Josh Thomas, disputed that account, telling WGN-TV that Brockman was not obstructing justice. “They claimed that the WGN employee was obstructing justice, even though she was, like all of us, just standing there, taking video,” he said.
Brockman was later released without charges, according to WGN-TV and ABC 7 Eyewitness News.
Brockman’s employer addressed the incident in a statement to ABC 7: “Earlier today, a WGN-TV creative services employee was detained by ICE. She has since been released, and no charges were filed against her. Out of respect for her privacy, we will have no further statements about this incident.”
Footage also shows Border Patrol agents placing another person—a man—into the same unmarked vehicle, which bore a New Jersey license plate. Thomas, who lives in the area, recalled the scene to WGN-TV.
“I heard yelling and screaming and honking,” he said. “I ran downstairs to see what was going on. It looked like Border Patrol agents in a minivan had slammed some lady to the ground. And so, I ran up to her and asked her for her name. She said she was a WGN employee.”
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Thomas also said he asked for the name of the second person in the van but did not get it, adding that “he didn’t speak very good English.”
Another bystander, who asked to remain anonymous, told WGN that the agents appeared to be targeting men working on a nearby property and that witnesses grew upset after an older man was detained.
“We didn’t even see it coming. It was really like so quick and fast,” the witness said. “We were just screaming to leave him alone, leave him alone.”
