Times photographer Luke Johnson captured the moment when authorities tackled and handcuffed Sen. Alex Padilla on Thursday when he interrupted Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem’s news conference in Los Angeles.
Johnson’s images document many of the key moments of an encounter that has sparked controversy amid President Trump’s immigration crackdown.
Padilla attempts to speak
The senator was standing near a wall on one side of the room, then tried to interrupt Noem to ask a question.
“I’m Senator Alex Padilla,” he said, as one agent grabbed his jacket and shoved him backward on the chest and arm. “I have questions for the secretary, because the fact of the matter is that half a dozen violent criminals that you’re rotating on your — on your …”
“Hands off!” Padilla said, as three agents pushed him into a separate room.
Agent grabs him
Padilla is taken down
Videos from the press conference show agents forcing Padilla to his knees and handcuffing him.
Padilla speaks out
The senator later held a press conference to describe what happened.
“I was forced to the ground, and I was handcuffed,” Padilla said. “I was not arrested. I was not detained.”
If this is how the Trump administration treats a “senator with a question,” Padilla said, with tears in his eyes, “I can only imagine what they’re doing to cooks, to day laborers out in the Los Angeles community.”
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