Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) said Thursday Sen. Alex Padilla (D-Calif.) should be charged after being apprehended by law enforcement during a Department of Homeland Security presser.
Padilla verbally identified himself as a senator but was not wearing the pin that identifies lawmakers from civilians.
“I think he should be charged. He should be prosecuted,” Greene said during a Thursday appearance on NewsNation’s “The Hill.
Padilla attended the news conference to address Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem amid the chaos in California caused by large-scale protests.
Greene said Padilla’s arrest was warranted because he was not wearing the pin, which “Secret Service and all Capitol police are trained to see.”
“He came in very aggressively, and then he actually fought police. He actually resisted arrest and was aggressively refused to leave,” Greene told host Blake Burman.
However, Padilla defended his actions at a Thursday presser, clarifying he was handcuffed but not arrested or detained.
“At one point I had a question. And let me emphasize […] the right for people to peacefully protest and to stand up for their First Amendment rights, for our fundamental rights. I was there peacefully. At one point I had a question, and so I began to ask a question,” he said.
“I was almost immediately forcibly removed from the room. I was forced to the ground, and I was handcuffed.”
The viral video quickly spread across the internet, causing Democratic lawmakers in Washington to protest Padilla’s forcible removal from Noem’s news conference.
“I will say this: If this is how this administration responds to a senator with a question, I 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,” he said.
Local officials have accused President Trump of escalating tension in California after calling in the National Guard and Marines on Sunday to quell violent demonstrations and threatening to arrest Gov. Gavin Newsom (D-Calif.) and others who stood in the way of federal forces.
Newsom slammed the Trump administration on Thursday for their detainment of the state’s most senior member of Congress.
“.@SenAlexPadilla is one of the most decent people I know. This is outrageous, dictatorial, and shameful. [President] Trump and his shock troops are out of control. This must end now,” Newsom said on social platform X, sharing a video of Padilla being removed.
The governor later posted on X, “If they can handcuff a U.S. Senator for asking a question, imagine what they will do to you,” with an image of Padilla on the ground surrounded by FBI agents.
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