Sen. Alex Padilla, the senior U.S. senator representing California, was forcibly removed from a news conference in Los Angeles Thursday as Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem was addressing reporters.
Noem and other federal law enforcement officials were briefing the public on recent ICE operations in Los Angeles when Padilla, who is a Democrat, spoke up from the crowd to ask questions and was removed, videos of the incident show.
Padilla's office said he was in L.A. to perform Congressional oversight of the federal government’s immigration operations, according to a statement. Images showed him being handcuffed on the floor outside a short time later.
“He tried to ask the Secretary a question, and was forcibly removed by federal agents, forced to the ground and handcuffed,” his office said in a statement. “He is not currently detained, and we are working to get additional information.”
Homeland Security officials issued a statement on social media saying 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. Mr. Padilla was told repeatedly to back away and did not comply with officers’ repeated commands."
They went on to say Secret Service officers "thought he was an attacker and officers acted appropriately. Secretary Noem met with Senator Padilla after and held a 15 minute meeting."
Video shows Padilla being pushed backward by several people. He can also be heard identifying himself: "I am Senator Alex Padilla. I have questions for the secretary."
FBI Deputy Director Dan Bongino posted a statement on X, saying Padilla was not wearing a security pin and "physically resisted law enforcement when confronted." He said FBI personnel acted appropriately when assisting the Secret Service.
After the incident, Padilla spoke briefly to reporters.
"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 farm workers, to cooks, to day laborers out in the Los Angeles community and throughout California and throughout the country," Padilla said. "We will hold this administration accountable."
In a separate statement from his office, Padilla said he raised concerns with the secretary about deployment of military forces in Southern California over the last week, among other issues.
"It was a civil, brief meeting, but the Secretary did not provide any meaningful answers," the statement read. "The Senator was simply trying to do his job and seek answers for the people he represents in California.”
Padilla is the first Latino to represent California in the U.S. Senate, where he began serving in 2021 after he was appointed to fill a vacancy left by the election of Vice President Kamala Harris. He's now the senior senator serving the nation's most populous state.
Reaction is swift
Democratic leaders strongly condemned the removal.
“What just happened to [Padilla] is absolutely abhorrent and outrageous,” Mayor Karen Bass wrote on X.
Sen. Chuck Schumer raised the issue from the Senate floor on Thursday.
"I just saw something that sickened my stomach: the manhandling of a United States Senator,” Schumer said. “We need immediate answers to what the hell went on."
Also speaking from the Senate floor, Sen. Cory Booker called Padilla's removal from the news conference "an abuse of authority" and "a violent act" for which there can be no justification. He said the incident should outrage every U.S. senator.
"If you see the video, at that point he's not fighting," Booker said, referring to when Padilla was restrained. "He's not pushing. But this is a pattern and a practice."
Sen. Adam Schiff said he had watched the footage in "horror," and stressed a need to call out threats to democracy regardless of party affiliation.
"How does one lose a democracy? This is how you lose a democracy. Actions like today," he said.
Republican leaders weighed in as well.
House Speaker Mike Johnson told media outlets in Washington, D.C. that he thought Padilla's actions were "wildly inappropriate," and repeatedly said the senator had "charged" at Noem.
"A sitting member of Congress should not act like that," he said. "It is beneath a U.S. senator, they're supposed to lead by example. That is not a good example. We have to turn the temperature down in this country and not escalate it."
He said he believes Padilla's actions warrant censure.
Tensions between California and the White House
California leaders have been at odds with federal authorities about ICE raids involving the National Guard and Marines in response to recent demonstrations over the immigration enforcement operations.
Noem was joined at the news conference by representatives from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Customs and Border Protection and others.
"We're not going away," Noem said before Padilla was removed. "We are staying here to liberate this city from the socialist and burdensome leadership that this governor and this mayor have placed on this country.”
When asked by reporters about the disruption, Noem said Padilla had behaved inappropriately.
“I don’t even know the senator," Noem said. “He did not request a meeting to speak with me. So when I leave here, I’ll have a conversation with him and figure out what his concerns are.”
LA mayor and community leaders react
Bass was joined by community members at an afternoon news conference where she spoke about the incident with Padilla.
“They just shoved and cuffed a sitting U.S. senator," Bass said. "How could you say that you do not know who he was? How do you not recognize one of two senators in our state? And he is not just any senator, he is the first Latino senator to represent our state."
Bass also pushed back against Noem's comments earlier in the day about the protests in Los Angeles — particularly references to vandalism and violence, as well as attacks on law enforcement — since the ICE raids started late last week. She again disputed any claims that unrest in the city was widespread, noting that the demonstrations are mostly taking place in a small area of downtown L.A. near the federal buildings.
“This is not all of Los Angeles," Bass said. "This is isolated to a couple of blocks in a city that is more than 500 square miles.”
She continued: "We are proud to say that we have well-respected immigrant rights organizations that have had demonstrations for years and years... To say that our city is a city of mayhem is an outright lie.”
Angelica Salas, executive director of the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights Los Angeles, called L.A. a city of "caretakers." She stressed the contributions of immigrants, and denounced the actions federal authorities.
“This is the Los Angeles that I love deeply," Salas said. "This is also the Los Angeles that the immigrant community helped build from its first days as a city. What I have seen come to our city is cruelty, chaos, and violations of civil and constitutional rights."
Salas was one of two local immigrant rights leaders who received letters this week from Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) accusing them of “bankrolling civil unrest” and warning that they could be investigated. Without providing evidence, Hawley, chair of the Senate Subcommittee on Crime and Counterterrorism, said in the letter that “credible reporting now suggests that your organization has provided logistical support and financial resources to individuals engaged in these disruptive actions.”
Salas disputed the allegations.
