A legal analyst has warned that the arrest of a Chicago TV producer by U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agents on Friday could have been a direct violation of a recent court order in the city.
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) confirmed her arrest in a statement to Newsweek stating that she “was placed under arrest for assault on a federal law enforcement officer.” As did WGN though it mentioned Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) instead. WGN added no charges were filed were filed against Brockman.
Stern shared on Bluesky a screenshot of the temporary restraining order’s text, which reads: “It is hereby ORDERED that Defendants, their officers, agents, assigns and all other persons acting in concert with them (hereafter referred to as ‘Federal Agents’), are temporarily EN/joined in this judicial district from: a. Dispersing, arresting, threatening to arrest, threatening or using physical force against any person who they know or reasonably should know is a journalist, unless defendants have probable cause to believe that the individual has committed a crime.”
At time of writing, Newsweek has found no video evidence, released by the DHS or other sources, showing Brockman assaulting federal agents.
According to WGN, Brockman was released from federal custody at 3 p.m. on Friday, local time, and no charges were filed against her. As of 6 p.m. on Friday, the TV station said, a spokesman for the U.S. Attorney in Chicago had confirmed no charges had been filed in Brockman’s case.
Legally the time limit varies, but you generally do have to be arraigned by a judge within a certain about of time of the arrest. You also have the right to a speedy trail, but that right is often waived. For both “clocks” there are a number of things that can pause or reset the clock, because nothing is really simple in a federalized system.
Also, according to judges, there are a number of policing actions that are being done in violation of the law, so they might violate the laws in other ways too.