Multiple Senate Democrats on Thursday called for Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem to resign after Sen. Alex Padilla (D-Calif.) was forcibly removed and later handcuffed for interrupting a press conference Noem held in Los Angeles.
“Kristi Noem should resign in disgrace,” Sen. Tina Smith (D-Minn.) said Thursday afternoon in a post on the social platform X.
Video of the incident showed multiple men restraining Padilla and forcing him out of the room, while other footage showed they later pushed him to the floor to handcuff him.
“I’m Sen. Alex Padilla. I have questions for the secretary,” Padilla is heard saying as he is pushed by multiple people out of the room.
Noem was holding a press conference about the widespread immigration raids in the Los Angeles are, which have prompted protests across the region.
In response to video of the incident, Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.) told Noem that she “should resign.”
“You’re head of Homeland Security and you can’t take a question from a sitting U.S. Senator at a press conference? This level of abuse of power is shameful, outrageous, and is not doing anything to keep our homeland safe,” Cortez Masto added Thursday in a post on X.
In a post on X, Department of Homeland Security spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin said “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 Hill has reached out to the Department of Homeland Security for comment.
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