Sen. Alex Padilla (D-CA) issued a warning Tuesday that the United States had entered “uncharted territory” after he was handcuffed and forcibly removed from a homeland security press conference last week in Los Angeles.
The California senator took to the Senate floor to defend why he attended the Homeland Security news conference, saying he was seeking answers about the Trump administration’s decision to deploy the military to Los Angeles in response to protests after deportation officials targeted undocumented workers at Home Depot.
“You’ve seen the video. I was pushed and pulled, struggled to maintain my balance. I was forced to the ground, first on my knees and then flat on my chest,” Padilla said, appearing to choke back tears. “If that is what the administration is willing to do to a United States senator for having the authority to simply ask a question, imagine what they’ll do to any American who dares to speak up.”
Padilla was at the West Los Angeles federal building for a scheduled meeting with Air Force Gen. Gregory Guillot, the head of U.S. Northern Command, after LA’s downtown was engulfed in days of sustained protests, some of which descended into chaos with vehicles set on fire and widespread looting.
When he learned that Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem was holding a press conference just down the hall, he decided to attend and was accompanied by federal officers. “They opened the door for me. They accompanied me into the press briefing,” Padilla said.
He described listening to the press conference until Noem began discussing plans to “liberate” Los Angeles. Padilla interrupted Noem while she spoke and approached her, and the department accused him of doing so “without identifying himself or having his Senate security pin on.” In a video, he clearly says, “I’m Sen. Alex Padilla. I have questions for the secretary.”
Identifying as “the proud son of immigrants from Mexico,” the California Democrat described President Donald Trump as a “tyrant” surrounded by “yes-men and underqualified attack dogs,” warning that he is pushing the limits of his authority.
“Throughout this country’s history, we’ve had conflict, we’ve had tumult, but we’ve never had a tyrant as the commander in chief, and that is not by coincidence,” Padilla said. “It’s because the American people have always been willing to speak up and exercise their First Amendment rights to protest, especially when our fundamental rights have been threatened.”
“If a United States senator becomes too afraid to speak up, how can we expect any other American to do the same?”
In his speech, Padilla criticized the administration’s stated goal “to somehow liberate us from the very people we democratically elected to lead our city and our state,” calling it a “fundamentally un-American mission statement.”
“Are we truly prepared to live in a country where the president can deploy the armed forces to decide which duly elected governors and mayors can lead our constituents?” he added.
Tricia McLaughlin, a Trump DHS official, dismissed Padilla’s actions as “disrespectful political theatre” in a post on X, and claimed the Secret Service initially mistook him for a threat.
Some Republicans have called Padilla’s actions last week an attention-seeking stunt to disrupt Noem’s press conference and score political points. Democrats have since raised money off the handcuffing.
PADILLA FEARS FOR PEOPLE WHO ASK QUESTIONS WHEN ‘CAMERAS ARE NOT THERE’
Democrats expressed outrage after seeing the viral video showing Padilla being forced to the ground. Senate Judiciary Democrats wrote a letter to Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-IA), requesting an oversight hearing with Noem to discuss DHS’s “escalating use of alarming immigration enforcement practices.”
“Senator Padilla’s mistreatment by federal agents should be a warning to us all,” they wrote. “We urge you to quickly schedule a hearing to ensure we have an opportunity to question Secretary Noem regarding Committee members’ many unanswered requests for information from DHS, and the cruel and un-American steps this Administration has taken to carry out its mass deportation agenda.”