Democratic California U.S. Sen. Alex Padilla was forcefully removed Thursday by security officers from a press conference being held on immigration by Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem.
Video shows a Secret Service special agent on Noem’s detail grabbing Padilla by his jacket and shoving him from the room, as the senator struggles to catch his breath while identifying himself.
“I’m Sen. Alex Padilla. I have questions for the secretary,” he shouted in a halting voice. He tries to push back into the room when a second security guard appears.
Once out of the room, he can be heard shouting, “Hands off!”
One video posted online shows Padilla being forced to the ground by three officers and handcuffed by an officer wearing an FBI vest.
Padilla, the son of immigrants from Mexico, has been a harsh critic of President Donald Trump and his mass deportations agenda. In a post on the social platform X, he said of recent federal immigration raids in Los Angeles, “Trump isn’t targeting criminals in his mass deportation agenda, he is terrorizing communities, breaking apart families and putting American citizens in harm’s way.”
In a statement, Padilla’s office said he was in the building for a military briefing and stepped into Noem’s event. “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.”
In a statement, DHS defended the actions of the agents.
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 agency said in that statement that agents “thought he was an attacker and officers acted appropriately.”
“Secretary Noem met with Senator Padilla after and held a 15 minute meeting,” the agency said.
At the Capitol, senators were sharing the video with each other as they gathered on the Senate floor for a series of votes. Sen. Lisa Blunt Rochester, D-Del., said she texted Padilla immediately “to let him know we support him.”
She said she also showed it to Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D.
“I think he was as shocked as we all were,” Blunt Rochester said. “So, hopefully we will come together as one voice.”
Connecticut Sen. Richard Blumenthal, a Democrat, called the video “utterly revolting” and said there should be consequences.
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