Sen. Alex Padilla was forcibly removed from a news
conference and handcuffed Thursday morning as Homeland Security Secretary
Kristi Noem was speaking on recent immigration enforcement operations in the
lawmaker's hometown of Los Angeles.
The stunning altercation unfolded as Noem was speaking at a federal building in Los Angeles, where days of protests have erupted in the city's downtown area over the ICE raids. Padilla was removed from the room after saying, "You insist on exaggerating." At least two men identified as Secret Service agents by the Department of Homeland Security approached Padilla, a Democrat, near a wall and pushed him through doors near the rear of the room.
He could be heard saying, "I am Sen. Alex Padilla and I have questions for the secretary" before he was removed, handcuffed and held facedown on the floor in a hallway.
Details, and analysis, of the takedown of Senator Padilla are forthcoming. However, it is curious that
Scuffling with officers outside the room, he can be heard bellowing "Hands off!" He is later seen on his knees and then pushed to the ground and handcuffed in a hallway with several officers atop him.
In 2022, President Biden signed into law a measure which
directs the Department of Justice (DOJ) to develop scenario-based training curricula (or identify existing curricula) that includes topics such as alternatives to the use of force, de-escalation tactics, and safely responding to an individual experiencing a mental, behavioral health, or suicidal crisis.
It's a safe bet that the Secret Service agents sitting atop Senator Padilla after he already was on his knees missed that training. In fairness, though, even Secret Service officers have to get their jollies somehow.
"I don't even know the Senator," Secretary Noem claimed after the incident. And yet immediately prior to the confrontation between the Senator and the SS (Secret Service) agents, the Homeland Security secretary, intentionally provocative, had threatened "We are not going away. We are staying here to liberate this city from the socialist and the burdensome leadership that this governor and that this mayor have placed on this country."
So Kristi Noem did not know who this guy was but was convinced she was anointed to "liberate this city from the socialist and the burdensome leadership" it has. She will liberate a state whose Senator she did not recognize, even though he identified himself immediately after being first subdued by the law enforcement officers. Or as Stuart Stevens tweeted
So, let's understand this: the person whose job it is to make America safe by recognizing terrorist plots and threats before they happen is the same person who doesn't recognize a United States Senator?
Alex Padilla will survive. However, Ron Brownstein captured better than anyone on Thursday the context of the confrontation and the larger issues involved:
Trump admin has now arrested a mayor in Newark, judge in Mikwaukee, US Rep in NJ, union leader in LA. Now forcibly detain a US Senator. Also seize control of CA national guard from Dem governor. As @BrendanNyhan would put it: what would you say if you saw it in another country? https://t.co/LkUwX5o5U1
— Ronald Brownstein (@RonBrownstein) June 12, 2025
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