U.S. Sen. Alex Padilla (D-California) was manhandled and handcuffed after he interrupted a press conference by Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem on the immigration protests in Los Angeles.
The senior senator from the nation’s largest state was grabbed by Secret Service agents and bundled out of a meeting room in a federal office building after he tried to ask Noem questions. Padilla was wrestled to the ground and handcuffed, but was not formally detained.
“He tried to ask the secretary a question and was forcibly removed by federal agents, forced to the ground and handcuffed,” Padilla’s office said in a statement.
“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 LA, throughout California, and throughout this country,” Padilla later told a press conference.
A Homeland Security spokeswoman said agents didn’t know who Padilla was and thought he could be trying to attack Noem.
“Padilla did not comply with officers’ repeated commands,” Tricia McLaughlin tweeted. “Secret Service thought he was an attacker and officers acted appropriately.”
McLaughlin said Noem met with Padilla for 15 minutes after the confrontation.
The showdown with one of California’s most prominent political leaders raised the temperature over President Trump’s crackdown and the protests that erupted in Los Angeles and have since spread to other cities including New York City.
Trump ordered National Guard troops and even Marines to squelch the protests. But Gov. Gavin Newsom said local and state law enforcement don’t want or need the federal assets.
“Watching this video sickened my stomach,” Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-New York) said. “We need immediate answers to what the hell went on.”
