Sen. Alex Padilla, Democrat from California, is removed from the room after interrupting a news conference with Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem at the Wilshire Federal Building in Los Angeles on June 12.
Patrick T. Fallon/AFP via Getty Images
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Patrick T. Fallon/AFP via Getty Images
Sen. Alex Padilla, D-Calif., was forcibly removed from a Homeland Security press conference led by DHS Secretary Kristi Noem in Los Angeles on Thursday.
Noem was in Los Angeles to discuss immigration enforcement actions in the city and ongoing protests over those efforts. Padilla attempted to ask a question during the event before he was forced to the ground by federal agents and handcuffed before being released, Padilla told reporters later.
A statement on the Homeland Security Department’s X account accused Padilla of “disrespectful political theatre,” charging that he did not comply with requests to back away. The statement said that the senator and Noem spoke for 15 minutes after the incident.
“I’ll let the law enforcement speak about how this situation was handled, but I would say that people need to identify themselves before they start lunging at people, during press conferences,” Noem told reporters as she left the press conference.
In a statement, FBI deputy director Dan Bongino said Padilla “was not wearing a security pin and physically resisted law enforcement when confronted.” Bongino said agents “acted completely appropriately.”
However, Padilla told reporters at a press conference after the incident that he did identify himself. He said he was in the federal building waiting for a scheduled briefing with federal officials, including a general, “as part of my responsibility as a senator to provide oversight and accountability.”
He said he heard that Noem was having a press conference in the same building and came to get more information, as he said he had been unable to get a meeting with DHS.
“I was there peacefully. At one point I had a question, and so I began to ask a question,” he said. “I was almost immediately forcibly removed from the room. I was forced to the ground, and I was handcuffed. I was not arrested. I was not detained.”
Video of Padilla’s removal quickly spread online. Prominent Democrats from lawmakers to California Gov. Gavin Newsom, a Democrat, posted a video of the incident.
In one video of the exchange, Padilla can be heard identifying himself as he’s pushed away. It later shows Padilla being handcuffed on the floor once he’s taken from the room of the event.
Credit: Office of U.S. Sen. Alex Padilla
Ahead of the press conference, the department said the event was for Noem to “show her support for DHS, law enforcement, and U.S. military personnel who are working to restore law and order.”
The Trump administration has called on National Guard troops and Marines in recent days in response to protests of the administration’s immigration enforcement tactics.
Padilla incident roils Democrats in Washington
On the Senate floor, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., referred to video of the incident saying, “I just saw something that sickened my stomach; the manhandling of a United States Senator. We need immediate answers to what the hell went on.”
The incident in Los Angeles became public as senators were preparing to finish their business in Washington for the week. Democrats chose to stay and deliver speeches condemning the Trump administration’s immigration enforcement actions and the treatment of Padilla.
Democrat Adam Schiff, Padilla’s fellow senator from California, vowed to hold the administration accountable.
“When a U.S. senator goes to demand answers about the lawfulness or lawlessness of these actions to see him tackled to the ground, brought to the ground, what is becoming of our democracy?” he asked on the Senate floor. “Are there no limits to what this administration will do? Is there no line they will not cross?”
Adrian Florido contributed to this story.
