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Democratic Sen. Alex Padilla (California) was forcibly removed and tackled by law enforcement officers while at a press conference held by Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem on Thursday, sparking outrage.
Video of the incident that circulated on social media showed Padilla attempting to ask Noem a question when multiple men began grabbing and shoving him.
“I’m Senator Alex Padilla. I have questions for the secretary,” Padilla says, struggling to speak as he’s manhandled. He seemingly begins to make a comment about the “rotating” set of people supposedly convicted of crimes that the Trump administration is parading around in attempts to justify their brutal, sweeping anti-immigrant campaign.
As he’s speaking, the officers forcibly remove him from the room, with Padilla yelling “hands off.” Grabbing his arms, chest, and clothes, they shove the senator into a hallway, where they force him to the ground and handcuff him.
Padilla’s office said in a statement shortly after the incident that he was simply trying to ask Noem a question. He says he was not detained.
“Senator Padilla is currently in Los Angeles exercising his duty to perform congressional oversight of the federal government’s operations in Los Angeles and across California. He was in the federal building to receive a briefing with General [Gregory] Guillot and was listening to Secretary Noem’s press conference,” his office said.
Padilla said after the incident that the way officers treated him, a sitting U.S. senator, in front of cameras at a press conference, is an alarming sign of worse violence that’s happening to Americans across the country.
“If this is how this administration responds to a senator with a question, if this is how the Department of Homeland Security 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,” he said. “We will hold this administration accountable.”
The Department of Homeland Security attempted to muddy the waters on the incident in a post on social media, saying that Padilla was interrupting the conference “without identifying himself” and saying that he was “lung[ing]” at Noem. It also said that Secret Service officers thought he was a threat.
However, the videos clearly contradict this account, as Padilla loudly identifies himself as a U.S. senator. The statement also suggests that it is legitimate for those who may question the administration’s actions deserve to be tackled and handcuffed by law enforcement officers.
The incident swiftly drew outrage from Democrats, who condemned it as a show of the escalating fascist and authoritarian steps being taken weekly by the Trump administration.
“Sen. Padilla thrown to the ground, manhandled, brutally taken down, handcuffed. It’s disgusting,” said Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-New York) in a post on social media. “Reeks of totalitarianism.”
“In my time in the Senate I’ve never seen a Senator treated this way. [Senator Padilla] is carrying out his constitutional responsibility to conduct oversight and defend the people he represents,” said Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Oregon). “Absolutely shocking and disgusting way to handle a sitting member of Congress.”
The Congressional Hispanic Caucus demanded an investigation into the incident, saying, “This is unacceptable, full stop. [Senator Padilla] attended an open press conference to engage in debate, to represent his state, to do his job.”
The Trump administration has targeted numerous members of government with threats of arrest and prison when they disagree with his agenda.
Last month, masked federal law enforcement agents arrested Newark, New Jersey Mayor Ras Baraka after he and three House members traveled to an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) facility for an oversight-related visit. And, in April, federal agents arrested a Milwaukee judge after she allegedly tried to shield a man from being arrested by immigration officials who had, alarmingly, descended upon the courthouse to detain him.
Meanwhile, in recent days, President Donald has threatened to arrest California Gov. Gavin Newsom over his opposition to ICE raids in Los Angeles.
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