Sen. Alex Padilla is forcibly removed from DHS Secretary Kristi Noem's news conference in Los Angeles
Sen. Alex Padilla, D-Calif., was forcibly removed from a news conference in Los Angeles on Thursday after trying to question Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem during a press conference related to immigration.
"I am Sen. Alex Padilla. I have questions for the secretary," Padilla said to Noem, which prompted several men to physically push him out of the room. It was unclear who the men were, as several were dressed in plain clothes.
Padilla's office shared a video of the incident with NBC News. The video shows Padilla being taken into a hallway outside and pushed face forward onto the ground as officers with FBI-identifying vests told the senator to put his hands behind his back. The officers then handcuffed him.
President Donald Trump's immigration policies — and the administration's handling of demonstrations against those policies — have sparked an outcry in recent days. After protesters clashed with officers from Immigration and Customs Enforcement in Los Angeles on Friday, the president deployed members of the National Guard, and later Marines, to assist local law enforcement. Dozens of demonstrations have taken place across the country in the days that followed.
Speaking to reporters later Thursday, Padilla said he was receiving a briefing from military officials when he learned Noem was in the same building and decided to join her briefing.
"I was there peacefully," he said. "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."
He added, "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.”
DHS responded on X, falsely claiming that Padilla "interrupted a live press conference without identifying himself." Noem made the same false allegation during an interview on Fox News.
"Mr. Padilla was told repeatedly to back away and did not comply with officers’ repeated commands," DHS said, claiming that agents "thought he was an attacker and officers acted appropriately. Secretary Noem met with Senator Padilla after and held a 15 minute meeting."
Before Padilla began questioning Noem, she spoke to reporters about the administration's actions, the subject of her appearance in Los Angeles. Noem said that DHS and its agencies, as well as the military, "will continue to sustain and increase our operations in this city," she said.
"We are not going away," she said. "We are staying here to liberate this city from the socialist and the burdensome leadership that this governor and that this mayor have placed on this country," she said, referring to California Gov. Gavin Newsom and L.A. Mayor Karen Bass, both Democrats.
As Padilla tried to question her, Noem spoke over the senator, "I want to say thank you to every single person," and he was removed from the room.