Democratic Senator Slammed to the Ground and Handcuffed at Kristi Noem Event in L.A.

Senator Alex Padilla of California was forcibly removed and handcuffed after interrupting a press conference held by Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem on Thursday, in a startling episode that deepened partisan tensions over the Trump Administration’s expanded immigration enforcement efforts in Los Angeles.

Video footage released by Padilla’s office shows the Democratic Senator approaching the podium during Noem’s remarks: “I’m Senator Alex Padilla. I have questions for the Secretary,” he said before several men, including officers wearing FBI insignia, physically pushed him back. Moments later, Padilla was shoved to the floor face-down in a hallway outside the briefing room, handcuffed, and temporarily detained in an adjoining room.

“Sir! Sir! Hands off!” Padilla shouted during the scuffle, which unfolded in front of reporters and staff in a federal building in downtown Los Angeles, where protests have raged for nearly a week over a Trump-ordered crackdown involving ICE, National Guard troops, and U.S. Marines.

Padilla told reporters afterwards that he was in the building for a scheduled briefing with military officials when he learned that Noem, whose department oversees Immigration and Customs Enforcement, was doing a press conference a few doors down. He said that he wanted to listen to her remarks because he had not received a response to inquiries he sent to DHS for more information on its immigration enforcement plans in his state. 

“Just as we’ve emphasized the right for people to peacefully protest and to stand up for their First Amendment rights…I was there peacefully,” he said. “If this is how this Administration responds to a Senator with a question… you can only imagine what they’re doing to farm workers, cooks, laborers throughout L.A., throughout California, and throughout this country,” he said.

Padilla, a native of Los Angeles and the son of Mexican immigrants, appeared to be trying to ask Noem about the mug shots appearing on a screen behind her. He was not arrested or detained in the incident.

Asked about the confrontation during the press conference, Noem initially criticized Padilla’s interruption, according to a livestream. “I think everybody in America would agree that that was inappropriate,” she said. Noem added that she had not been contacted by Padilla prior to the event and did not know he planned to be there, but added that she would try to speak with him later to find out his concerns.

Shortly after, Noem confirmed that she had spoken with Padilla. “We had a great conversation. Sat down, talked for 10, 15 minutes about operations in L.A., some activities of the Department of Homeland Security, and so I thought it was very productive,” Noem told reporters after the news conference. “I wish that he would have reached out and identified himself and let us know who he was and that he wanted to talk. His approach was something that I don’t think was appropriate.”

Asked why he was forcibly removed from the press conference, Noem deferred to law enforcement, adding that “people need to identify themselves before they start lunging at people during press conferences.” In the video, Padilla can be heard identifying himself as “Senator Alex Padilla.”

In a statement, the Department of Homeland Security said that Padilla “chose disrespectful political theatre” and that the Secret Service “thought he was an attacker.” FBI spokesman Ben Williamson added that the Bureau’s LA personnel responded when “an unrecognized Senator in plain clothes and wearing no security pin became disruptive and subsequently resisted law enforcement.” White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said Padilla “should be ashamed of his childish behavior today.”

The physical removal of a sitting U.S. Senator sparked immediate backlash in Washington and across the country. “You're literally watching our democracy disintegrate,” Democratic Senator Chris Murphy of Connecticut told TIME. “And if these Republicans don't stand up at this moment for a United States Senator being manhandled, put on the ground and handcuffed… this doesn’t happen in America.”

California’s other Democratic Senator, Adam Schiff, told reporters that there should be an investigation into the conduct of the officers who pushed Senator Padilla face forward onto the ground. “Alex Padilla had every right to go into that room and demand answers. That is what a Senator does,” Schiff said. “For him to get that kind of abusive treatment, every Senator who works in this Capitol should be offended by this and outraged by this.”

House Speaker Mike Johnson, one of the first Republicans to comment on the matter, called Padilla’s actions “wildly inappropriate” and said that he should not have charged President Donald Trump’s cabinet secretary. “A sitting member of Congress should not act like that. It is beneath a member of Congress,” he said. “The Democrat party is on the wrong side. They are defending law breakers and now they are acting like law breakers themselves.”

California Democrats walking by began heckling as Johnson spoke. “That’s a lie!” one shouted. “Keep propping up that authoritarian,” another said. 

Johnson added that “the American people can draw their own conclusions—they saw a Senator acting like a…” he said with a smirk before pausing, “wildly inappropriate.” One Democrat twice asked if he meant to say Padilla was “acting like a thug,” to which Johnson did not respond.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune, a Republican, has not yet commented on the incident and it’s unclear if the Senate will open an investigation into law enforcement’s response. A group of House Democrats said they were marching to Thune’s office to push for “accountability for the detainment of a Senator,” according to a post from Rep. Maxwell Frost, a Florida Democrat.

The confrontation is the latest flashpoint in a growing legal and political battle over the Trump Administration’s immigration policies. More than 2,000 National Guard troops are currently on the ground in L.A. after being deployed by Trump earlier this week. About 500 of those troops have been trained to accompany ICE agents on operations.

Read more: Inside Donald Trump's Mass-Deportation Operation

The military deployments have coincided with nightly protests across the city and a curfew in parts of downtown. Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass said that the curfew would remain in effect “as long as they are needed.”

A federal judge in San Francisco heard arguments Thursday in a case brought by California Gov. Gavin Newsom, who is seeking an emergency order to block the use of troops in immigration enforcement. The lawsuit argues that the use of military personnel in civil law enforcement operations undermines democratic norms and violates state sovereignty.

Read more: Trump, on ‘No Kings’ Protests: ‘I Don’t Feel Like a King’

In 2020, Newsom announced Padilla, California’s secretary of state, would fill a Senate seat about to be left vacant by Kamala Harris’ election as Vice President. Harris shared on social media the video of Padilla being ejected from the press conference, condemning the episode. “United States Senator Alex Padilla was representing the millions of Californians who are demanding answers to this Administration's actions in Southern California,” she posted on X. “This is a shameful and stunning abuse of power.”