Debbie Brockman, the former WGN-TV producer whose aggressive detainment in October during Operation Midway Blitz went viral on social media, filed a $10 million personal injury claim against the U.S. government Tuesday for alleged harm suffered at the hands of federal immigration agents.
Brockman was tackled, handcuffed and placed in a van while on her way to work, an incident that was captured on video by a bystander. She was detained for six hours before she was released and was not charged with any crimes.
Filed under the Federal Tort Claims Act against U.S. Customs and Border Protection, the claim seeks $10 million in damages for alleged assault and battery, false imprisonment, false arrest and intentional infliction of emotional distress inflicted on Brockman by federal agents during the citywide immigration enforcement action that roiled Chicago last fall.
“It’s horrific that a government agency supposedly established to keep America safe is terrorizing communities, killing people, and violently targeting individuals they assume are not citizens,” Brockman said in a news release Tuesday. “We are not safe with these armed, masked agents lurking in our neighborhoods showing little to no regard towards the lives of the people who live here.”
In an emailed statement Tuesday, a Department of Homeland Security spokesperson maintained the agency’s longstanding position that Brockman participated in a violent protest against the immigration agents during the Oct. 10 enforcement action, precipitating her arrest.
“The facts of the case have not changed,” the Homeland Security spokesperson said. “U.S. Border Patrol was conducting immigration enforcement operations and 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. 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.”
The incident occurred during the height of Operation Midway Blitz, when street confrontations between citizens and federal agents targeting “criminal illegal aliens” in the Chicago area were frequent. Brockman, then a longtime creative services producer at WGN-Ch. 9, was walking to her bus stop on the way to work when she came upon the federal immigration enforcement action taking place near her Lincoln Square home. At some point, Brockman became the focus of attention when she was forced to the ground, handcuffed and placed in a van by federal immigration agents.
During the detention, Brockman identified herself as working at WGN and asked an onlooker taking a video to “let them know” before she was hauled off by the agents in an unmarked silver van. The video of her arrest, which was shared widely on social and legacy media platforms, showed Brockman with her pants pulled down, her glasses askew and her face in obvious distress during the rough detainment by federal agents.
Brockman, a U.S. citizen, was detained for six hours by federal immigration authorities before being released without charges.
A few days after the incident, Brockman retained Chicago attorney Brad Thomson, who said they intended to “pursue all legal avenues available” to hold federal authorities accountable. Eight months later, Thomson filed the Federal Tort Claims Act on her behalf, a precursor to a federal lawsuit, according to the news release.
“The outrageous actions of the federal agents who attacked Ms. Brockman demonstrate that they believe they can terrorize our communities and snatch our neighbors off the streets with impunity,” Thomson said in the news release Tuesday.
The Federal Tort Claims Act allows plaintiffs to seek compensation from the United States for wrongs committed by federal employees, in this case the immigration agents that tackled and detained Brockman on her way to work. The claim alleges immigration agents “intentionally” and “without legal justification” caused physical and emotional harm to Brockman, who suffered headaches, pain and anxiety as a “direct result” of the October incident.
In the news release, Brockman said the “assault has profoundly impacted my life on a day-to-day basis, leaving me uncertain of my future, my neighbors’ futures, and quite frankly the future of the United States.”
Brockman, who had worked at WGN since 2011, subsequently lost her job as part of a massive February downsizing at the TV station, which also laid off eight veteran reporters and anchors. The station, which is owned by Dallas-based Nexstar Media, was streamlining operations ahead of a planned acquisition of rival TV station owner Tegna. The $6.2 billion merger has been frozen by a federal antitrust lawsuit brought by DirecTV and attorneys general from 13 states, including Illinois.
rchannick@chicagotribune.com
