Democratic Senator Alex Padilla was handcuffed and removed from a press conference by federal agents after attempting to question Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem.
The dramatic incident took place during a DHS press conference in a federal building in Los Angeles.
Noem was in the city to speak about ongoing protests tied to Donald Trump’s immigration policies.
Highlights
- Senator Alex Padilla was forcibly removed and handcuffed at a DHS press conference while trying to question Secretary Kristi Noem in Los Angeles.
- FBI and Secret Service agents were involved in Padilla's removal, pushing him to the ground and handcuffing him before escorting him out.
- Padilla was attending a scheduled briefing and attempted to ask questions about Trump’s immigration policies before being removed.
- California Governor Gavin Newsom condemned the incident as 'outrageous' and 'dictatorial,' criticizing the Trump administration’s enforcement.
- A short meeting between Padilla and Noem was arranged afterward.
As she addressed reporters, Padilla stood up and said, “I am Senator Alex Padilla. I have questions for the secretary.”
Senator Alex Padilla was forcibly removed from a press conference in L.A.
Image credits: David Crane/Getty Images
Security quickly intervened and ejected Padilla from the press conference.
A top FBI official later said bureau personnel and Secret Service agents were involved in his removal.
Video from the scene shows Padilla trying to make a point about “half a dozen violent criminals,” when he was taken into a hallway outside by officers wearing FBI vests.
He was pushed face forward onto the ground and told to put his hands behind his back. The officers then handcuffed him.
A DHS spokesperson later accused Padilla of engaging in “disrespectful political theater.” The spokesperson said he failed to identify himself or follow officers’ orders, which led to his removal.
“The officers acted appropriately,” the agency said in a statement.
Noem told Fox News, “This man (Padilla) burst into the room, started lunging towards the podium, interrupting me and elevating his voice, and was stopped, did not identify himself, and was removed from the room.”
“After he interrupted our press conference with law enforcement, I met with Senator Padilla for 15 minutes. We probably disagree on 90% of the topics but we agreed to exchanged phone numbers and we will continue to talk—that is the way it should be in this country.”
In the video, Padilla can be heard identifying himself as the officers push him outside.
Padilla’s office said in a statement that the senator was in the building for a scheduled briefing with federal officials.
When he learned Noem was holding a press conference nearby, he decided to attend. He listened quietly for some time before attempting to ask a question. That’s when he was removed.
“He tried to ask the Secretary a question, and was forcibly removed by federal agents, forced to the ground and handcuffed,” the statement reads.
“He is not currently detained, and we are working to get additional information.”
In a later interview, Padilla said, “I was there peacefully. At one point, I had a question, and so I began to ask a question. I was almost immediately forcibly removed from the room, I was forced to the ground, and I was handcuffed.”
Padilla told MSNBC that the polo shirt he was wearing at the news conference said “United States Senate,” and the FBI agents who were handling him “wouldn’t identify themselves.”
“I kept repeatedly asking them, ‘Why am I being detained?’ No answer,” he said.
He was also not told where they were taking him.
“They were not communicative until somebody from, I’m sure, Secretary Noem’s team, figured out I was who I said I was,” he added.
Padilla attempted to ask questions about the Trump administration’s immigration policy
Image credits: Alex Brandon-Pool/Getty Images
Secret Service officials confirmed to NBC that Padilla was questioned and released.
They said he did not pose a threat and that a short meeting between Padilla and Noem was arranged afterward.
Anthony Cangelosi, a former Secret Service agent, confirmed to NBC that the forcible removal of Padilla appeared to be justified because he resisted leaving the room.
The press conference came during a tense time in L.A., where protests have broken out in response to immigration raids and U.S. President Donald Trump’s decision to send the National Guard and Marine troops to the area.
“I have been asking the Department of Homeland Security for more information and more answers on their increasingly extreme immigration enforcement actions and we have gotten little to no information,” Padilla told the press, explaining his reasoning to attend the press conference.
California Governor Gavin Newsom called Padilla’s treatment “outrageous” and “dictatorial.”
“Trump and his shock troops are out of control. This must stop now,” Newsom said.
A White House spokesperson said: “Padilla didn’t want answers; he wanted attention.”
Senator Susan Collins, a Republican from Maine, found the video disturbing.
“I just was shown on the floor a small play, but it looks like he is being manhandled and physically removed. And it’s hard to imagine a justification for that,” she said.
This incident comes on the heels of several arrests involving Democratic officials protesting immigration actions.
On May 9, Newark Mayor Ras Baraka was arrested during a protest outside the Delaney Hall ICE detention facility. On June 10, Rep. LaMonica McIver was indicted by a federal grand jury for allegedly assaulting or impeding law enforcement during that same incident.
Trump’s border czar, Tom Homan, has warned Democratic officials: “They can stand out and scream all they want. But if they trespass, they’ll be arrested. If they impede, they will be arrested.”
Padilla said the way he was treated raises bigger concerns.
“If this is how this administration responds to a senator with a question, you can only imagine what they’re doing to farmworkers, to cooks, to day laborers, out in the Los Angeles community, and throughout California, and throughout the country. We will hold this administration accountable,” he said.