Summary
- Over
1,000 CDC employees received layoffs notice Friday. - Notices
included entire offices, including health statistics units. - The
move was part of broader government workforce cuts.
During an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (Ice)
operation in the Lincoln Square neighborhood of Chicago on Friday, federal officials
detained Debbie Brockman, a US citizen and employee of WGN. Videos from the
scene show two agents pushing Brockman to the ground before handcuffing and
loading her into a van.
According to a homeland security official at the time,
Brockman was “placed under arrest for assault on a federal law enforcement
officer” after allegedly “throwing objects at the border patrol’s
car.”
WGN confirmed later on Friday that Brockman was free of
federal custody and that she was not facing any charges.
Brockman’s lawyers refuted the government’s story in a press
release they sent to the Guardian and many Chicago news outlets on Tuesday.
They stated that Brockman was the one who was brutally attacked by federal
agents on her way to work on October 10 and that they “adamantly deny any
allegation that she assaulted anyone.”
According to her attorneys, Brockman was “walking to
the bus stop as part of her morning commute when she was attacked by Border
Patrol agents,” and she was “not acting in any professional capacity
as an employee for WGN” at the time of the arrest.
“Brockman, who is a US Citizen born in this country, was
violently detained on Foster Avenue”
the statement continues.
“As this occurred, individuals on the street began recording the incident and
asked Ms. Brockman her name.”
The statement says that she told the bystanders her name and
that she worked at WGN, in the hopes that “someone would notify her employer so
coworkers would know that she would not be arriving at work that day” her
attorneys said.
According to her lawyers, Brockman was held in federal
custody for about seven hours before being released.
“She has not been charged with any crimes and she intends to
pursue all legal avenues available to her to vindicate her rights and hold the
federal authorities accountable for their actions,”
the statement adds.
Brad Thomson, one of her attorney’s, added in the statement:
“If armed, masked, federal agents are snatching US citizens off the street as
they walk to work and throwing them in unmarked vehicles, you can only imagine
what these agents must be willing to do to our immigrant neighbors and people
who dare to speak out against them.
Ms Brockman was taken to the ground, battered, handcuffed,
and her pants were pulled down exposing her bare buttocks,” Thomson said. “No
one should be treated like that in this city, in this country or anywhere else
in the world.”
Requests for comment from Ice, the US customs and border
protection department, and the Department of Homeland Security were not
immediately answered.
What legal protections exist for journalists in protests?
Journalists have the right to access and report on events in
public spaces, including demonstrations and protests, protected under freedom
of the press and freedom of speech laws like the First Amendment in the U.S.
Public places such as sidewalks and parks are accessible, though private
property or secured government facilities may have restrictions.
Police can only arrest journalists with probable cause, such
as failure to comply with lawful orders (e.g., dispersal orders) or engaging in
disorderly conduct. Simply recording or reporting on protests is not grounds
for arrest.
Journalists are legally allowed to record video and audio of
public events, including law enforcement activities, as long as they do not
obstruct police operations.
