A United States senator was forcibly removed from a press conference in Los Angeles after he tried to question Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem.
Sen. Alex Padilla (D-California) spoke up during a press conference called by Noem, whose department oversees the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents at the center of the controversial raids that have roiled Southern California for nearly a week.
She has condemned the violence that emerged from protests against the immigration crackdowns and placed the blame on local and state leaders.
“We are not going away. We are staying here to liberate this city from the socialist and the burdensome leadership that this governor and mayor have placed on this country and what they’ve tried to insert in this city,” she said, raising her voice toward the end to speak over Padilla.
Padilla was then forcibly removed from the room, as shown in footage shared by Fox News correspondent Bill Megulin.
He was not successfully able to ask a question. Noem met with the senator shortly after the conference, but not before he was taken down to the ground by law enforcement.
“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,” his office said in a statement. “He was in the federal building to receive a briefing with General Guillot and was listening to Secretary Noem’s press conference. He tried to ask the Secretary a question, and was forcibly removed by federal agents, forced to the ground and handcuffed. He is not currently detained, and we are working to get additional information.”
DHS, however, characterized the incident differently in a post to social media.
“Senator Padilla chose disrespectful political theatre and interrupted a live press conference without identifying himself or having his Senate security pin on as he lunged toward Secretary Noem,” the statement said. “Mr. Padilla was told repeatedly to back away and did not comply with officers’ repeated commands. [The Secret Service] thought he was an attacker and officers acted appropriately. Secretary Noem met with Senator Padilla after and held a 15 minute meeting.“
Additionally, Noem later claimed to Fox News that “nobody knew who he was.”
Video of the incident clearly shows Padilla identifying himself as a U.S. senator, and there is no evidence he “lunged toward Secretary Noem.”
It does, however, show the senator being taken down to the ground and handcuffed.
After the confrontation, Newsom expressed his support for Padilla, whom he called “one of the most decent people I know.”
“This is outrageous, dictatorial, and shameful,” Newsom said on social media. “Trump and his shock troops are out of control. This must end now.”
He also shared an image showing Padilla being restrained by law enforcement.
“If they can handcuff a U.S. Senator for asking a question, imagine what they will do to you,” the governor wrote.
L.A. Mayor Karen Bass also expressed her support.
“What just happened to [Padilla] is absolutely abhorrent and outrageous,” she wrote on social media. “He is a sitting United States Senator. This administration’s violent attacks on our city must end.”
The press conference continued Noem’s shots at the largely Democratic Los Angeles, including calling it a “city of criminals,” a retort to L.A.’s status as a sanctuary city and Bass’ support for the immigrant community.
“Well, they’re not a city of immigrants, they’re a city of criminals, because [Bass] has protected them for so many years,” she said on Fox News, as reported by KTLA sister outlet The Hill.
Other officials in the press conference, including U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli, also took shots at California’s leadership.
Noem, a former South Dakota governor, also reportedly asked for the U.S. military to detain or arrest citizens, something experts say would only be legal if the Insurrection Act were invoked.
The secretary was challenged by another legal concept, habeas corpus, when asked to define it in a Senate committee hearing last month.
Habeas corpus, which roughly translates to “have the body,” means the state cannot hold people indefinitely without court hearings.
“Habeas corpus is a constitutional right the president has to remove people from this country,” she incorrectly stated.
Earlier on Thursday, Noem was spotted by the New York Times joining ICE agents in a raid in Huntington Park. The target of that raid was not home at the time.
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