Democratic U.S. Sen. Alex Padilla of California was forcefully removed from Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem’s news conference in Los Angeles on Thursday and handcuffed by officers as he tried to speak up about immigration raids that have led to protests in California and elsewhere.
Video shows a Secret Service agent and others on Noem’s security detail grabbing Padilla by his jacket Thursday and shoving him from the room as he tried to interrupt Noem’s news conference in Los Angeles.
During the incident, Padilla clearly identified himself as a senator.
He was then tackled and handcuffed in a hallway.
The stunning scene of a U.S. senator being aggressively removed from a Cabinet secretary’s news conference prompted immediate outrage from his Democratic colleagues and political analysts across the country.
Sen. Alex Padilla (D-Calif.): “If this is how the administration responds to a Senator with a question, you can only imagine what they’re doing to farmworkers, cooks, and day laborers throughout the country.”
Noem immediately appeared on Fox News and lied about Padilla not identifying himself.
Rep. Jasmine Crockett (D-Texas): “What happened to Senator Padilla is absolutely DISGUSTING. Point blank, period. This shit is out of control. Another elected official disrespected while doing their job. If this is how they treat sitting members of Congress, mayors, and judges — people simply trying to serve — how do you think they’ll treat you?!? This is deliberate. And it’s all about control and intimidation toward those who dare hold them accountable.Enough is enough."
Kamala Harris, former senator and Democratic presidential candidate: “United States Senator Alex Padilla was representing the millions of Californians who are demanding answers to this Administration’s actions in Southern California. This is a shameful and stunning abuse of power.”
Pete Buttigieg, former Transportation Secretary: “Like so many people around the country, I just saw something that made my stomach turn, something I didn’t think that I would see even under this administration. A U.S. Senator pushed to the ground and handcuffed after asking questions of a federal government official.
“All right, what are we supposed to do about that? Well, first of all, we name what just happened, which is that the Trump government has crossed one of the reddest of red lines that can exist in a free society. Any salute to the flag or talk of patriotism or American greatness is completely hollow if you do not respect the freedoms that that flag represents, the Constitution that directs the course of this country, and they’ve shown what they think of those freedoms in that Constitution.
“Now what? Well, much will depend on the courage of members of the Senate and the House, especially Republicans. ... Our job as American citizens is to make sure that they realize they have more politically to lose by riding the tiger of this out-of-control administration, which will sooner or later eat them too. ... That’s going to take all of us raising our voices like never before so that something like this can never happen again.”
Rick Wilson, co-founder of the Lincoln Project: “It’s time for people in this administration’s service, including the guys dragging U. S. Senators to the ground, to be held to account.”
Bill Kristol, conservative author: “In Donald Trump’s America, if you say, ‘I am Senator Alex Padilla, I have questions for the Secretary,’ you get thrown to the floor and handcuffed.”
Rep. Ayanna Pressley (D-Mass.): “A United States Senator manhandled and handcuffed by a rogue federal agency for doing his job. That’s the headline.”
Tim Miller, Bulwark podcast: “None of this is new, or random, or out of character for this DHS. Chris Murphy listed all the ways Noem has overseen a lawless and out of control agency a month ago.”
Norm Ornstein, Congressional historian: “I have never heard of anything even close to this.”
Stuart Stevens, author: “How do you ‘disrespect’ a Miss South Dakota Snow Queen who shot her dog?”
Matthew Gertz, Media Matters: “It would be insanely easy to not lie about him not identifying himself and instead explain that security didn’t hear it as an explanation while nonetheless apologizing for manhandling a U.S. senator but that’s not MAGA.”
Republicans Against Trump: “Kristi Noem justifies Senator Padilla being handcuffed and forcibly removed from her press conference: ‘Nobody knew who he was when he came into the room creating a scene.’ (Padilla is seen in the video telling the agents he’s a U.S. Senator.)”
David Frum, conservative author: “MAGA heads reply: ‘Padilla was only there to create a scene.’ An able cabinet secretary would have figured that out too, and denied the senator what he came to get. But a stupid secretary does not think that fast; and an arrogant secretary does not understand why she has to.”
Joe Scarborough, MSNBC host: “A United States Senator from the state where the press conference is being held regarding his state and constituents is pushed and shoved. He identifies himself and is still thrown from the room, tackled to the floor, and handcuffed.”
Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.): “A group of us just arrived on the Senate floor to challenge our colleagues - on both sides of the aside - to rise to this moment and jointly condemn what has happened to Sen. Padilla. Yes we still need to collect the full facts, but this appears to be a defining moment for the country.
Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Ala.) “I’ve seen that one clip. It’s horrible. It is shocking at every level. It’s not the America I know.”
Matthew Yglesias, Bloomberg columnist: “You don’t get authoritarian behavior like this just for fun, it’s ultimately the only way to entrench an agenda whose centerpiece is millions of people losing health insurance, higher prices via tariffs, and higher interest rates via deficits.”
Shannon Watts, Democratic activist: “Democratic Senators who voted to confirm Noem: Sen. John Fetterman, Sen. Maggie Hassan, Sen. Tim Kaine, Sen. Andy Kim, Sen. Gary Peters, Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, Sen. Elissa Slotkin. Stop voting in favor of anything this fascist regime puts forward!!!”
The AP contributed to this report.
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