Sen. Alex Padilla says he identified himself before he was tackled at Noem's news conference. Here's context
In June 2025, a claim circulated that U.S. Sen. Alex Padilla, a Democrat from California, hadn't identified himself before interrupting Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem to ask her a question at a news conference.
As Noem was speaking about the confrontations between anti-ICE protesters and law enforcement in Los Angeles, Padilla tried to speak and was blocked, forced out of the room and handcuffed by federal agents. Democrats were outraged that a sitting U.S. senator would be forcibly removed from a public news conference.
Noem later spoke on Fox News, saying Padilla had failed to identify himself before he approached her and that was the reason the agents pounced. She then shared the clip of the incident on her X account (archived):
Noem's post had received 1.3 million views and 50,000 likes as of this writing. Others who posted, including the X account of the Department of Homeland Security (archived), further relayed the claim that Padilla hadn't identified himself before he was tackled.
Although video of the incident was recorded on more than one phone camera, the existing recordings aren't clear or complete enough to confirm whether he did or didn't identify himself at the outset. Fox News streamed the briefing live from a federal building in Los Angeles. Five minutes into that video, the camera turns to the right side of the room to film Padilla being pushed away from the stage where Noem is standing:
As the agents remove him, Padilla is heard clearly stating "I am Senator Alex Padilla" and attempting to ask a question. Noem continues speaking without acknowledging the interruption, allowing the men to take Padilla out of the room and into the adjoining corridor, where he was pushed to the ground and handcuffed.
NBC reporter Jack Soboroff shared a video shot closer to Padilla (archived):
Again, however, the incident occurred very quickly and it isn't possible to determine from these videos exactly what Padilla said before he was grabbed by the security detail.
We contacted Padilla's team asking if he had identified himself before stepping to the side of the press pool, near the wall, and walking up to the stage to address Noem directly. We asked if there was any possibility Noem and her security team were confused about who Padilla was. In a phone interview, a spokesperson for Padilla — who was present during the incident and had filmed the video Soboroff shared — provided more context. The senator's aide told Snopes Padilla did identify himself once before he was pushed away from the stage.
Later, in other interviews, Padilla provided more context about his presence at the press briefing. He also disputed claims that he had not identified himself. He explained he had sought to meet Noem and other DHS officials for weeks before this incident, to no avail. He said he had obtained approval from DHS to access the same federal building where the press briefing occurred. He was scheduled to meet there with "representatives of the Northern Command," including Gen. Gregory Guillot, according to Padilla's spokesperson. That briefing was going to be delayed as some of those who were to take part were in fact in the room where Noem was speaking. The whole floor was locked, the spokesperson said, adding they had to be escorted to the bathroom.
Padilla said when he became aware that Noem was holding a news briefing, he asked to attend and was escorted by a member of FBI personnel and a staffer of the National Guard to the room where Noem was speaking. FBI agents standing outside the room let him in.
"It's unfathomable to me that they didn't know who he was," Padilla's spokesperson said.
Minutes later, according to the spokesperson, Padilla walked up to the stage and introduced himself, seeking to ask a question. When the security agents began to push Padilla, the spokesperson immediately started recording a video. Padilla can be heard introducing himself a second time on that video, the aide said.
In the NBC interview, Padilla added that while he was not wearing his Senate security pin, he was wearing a shirt with the logo of the Senate, which he suggested should have left no doubt about the political office he holds.
Padilla was then pushed into the hallway, pushed to the floor and handcuffed, all of which appeared on the staffer's video. Another agent then reached over and put his hands on the phone to stop the recording. They were escorted down the hall with Padilla in handcuffs.
ABC7. "New Video Shows Sen. Alex Padilla Forced to Ground, Handcuffed during DHS Press Conference in L.A." YouTube, 12 June 2025, www.youtube.com/watch?v=9BfJ0WyNF6Y. Accessed 13 June 2025.
Fox News. "Secretary Noem Holds Press Briefing on LA Riots." YouTube, 12 June 2025, www.youtube.com/watch?v=Se3nSIZbzOw. Accessed 13 June 2025.
Macht, Daniel. "California Sen. Alex Padilla Removed from Press Conference with Homeland Security Secretary, Forced to Ground and Handcuffed." KCRA, 12 June 2025, www.kcra.com/article/alex-padilla-forcibly-removed-from-press-conference/65048857. Accessed 13 June 2025.
Nnamdi Egwuonwu. "Sen. Alex Padilla Disputes Trump Administration's Account of His Forcible Removal at a DHS Event." NBC News, 12 June 2025, www.nbcnews.com/politics/congress/sen-alex-padilla-disputes-trump-administrations-account-incident-led-f-rcna212760. Accessed 13 June 2025.
Pod Save America. "Alex Padilla Shuts down Trump's Lies after Being Tackled by Federal Agents." YouTube, 12 June 2025, www.youtube.com/watch?v=Smc4oaYBZYM. Accessed 13 June 2025.
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Image: Mia Sato The area where protesters were gathered made it difficult to count the crowd, but there were hundreds — perhaps a few thousand — people that streamed in and out. At one point, some protesters began marching down the street alongside Prospect Park, while others stayed at Grand Army Plaza to chant, cheer, and hold signs up at oncoming vehicles. With its proximity to the public library, the park, and densely populated neighborhoods, the massive intersection is a high-foot traffic area. Cars blared their horns as they passed, American flags waving in the chilly afternoon breeze. Jane, a Brooklyn resident who stood on the curb opposite the protesters, said she isn't typically someone who comes out to actions like this: before the No Kings event, she had only ever been to one protest, the Women's March. (Jane asked that The Verge use her first name only.) Image: Mia Sato 'I'm deeply concerned about our country,' Jane said, pausing as a long stream of trucks and cars honked continuously in support of the protesters in the background. 'I think Trump is behaving as an authoritarian. We've seen in Russia, in Hungary, in Hong Kong, that the slide from freedom to not freedom is very fast and very quick if people do not make their voices heard,' Jane said. 'I'm concerned that that's what's happening in the United States.' Jane also cited cuts to Medicaid and funding for academic research as well as tariffs as being 'unacceptable.' Image: Mia Sato The event was peaceful — there were lots of kids present — and people were in good spirits despite the rain. Protest signs ran the gamut from general anti-Trump slogans ('I trust light tampons more than this administration') to New York City-specific causes like 'Andrew Cuomo can't read' (there is a contenious mayoral election this month). One sign read, 'Fix your hearts or die,' an iconic line from the late director, David Lynch's, Twin Peaks: The Return. And of course, amid nationwide immigration raids that have been escalated by the involvement of the federal government, ICE was top of mind: one sign simply read, 'Melt ICE,' and another protester held a large 'NO ICE IN NYC' sign. Though it was smaller and more contained than other events, the protest didn't lack conviction: attendees of all ages stood in the cold rain, chanting and blowing into vuvuzela, banging the lids of pots and pans. At one point a man stood on the median on the street, leading the group in chants of 'No justice, no peace.' Cars laid on the horn as they drove by. — Mia Sato Akron, Ohio It's been raining pretty hard the last few days in Akron, OH, so much that I didn't think there'd be a large turnout for our chapter of the No Kings protest. But I was emphatically proven wrong as the crowds I saw dwarfed the Tesla Takedown protests last month. Officially, the protest was to take place in front of the John F. Seiberling Federal Building on Main Street in Downtown Akron. But the concentration of people spilled over from that small space down Main Street and up Market Street. All told, though there were no official counts, I estimate somewhere between 500 to 900 people in this blue enclave in Northeast Ohio. The mood was exuberant, buoyed by supporters who honked their horns as they passed. The chorus of horns was nonstop, and when a sanitation truck honked as it went by, cheers got louder. The chants the crowds were singing took on a local flare. Ohio is the home of the Ohio State Buckeyes and anywhere you go, shout 'O-H' and you'll invariably get an 'I-O' response. The crowds used that convention to make their own chant, 'OH-IO, Donald Trump has got to go.' There was no police presence here and the crowd was very good at policing itself. Ostensibly out of concern for the incidents where people have rammed their cars into protestor crowds, the people here have taken up crossing guard duties, aiding folks who wish to cross Main or Market Streets. Toward the end of my time at the protest, I saw an older gentleman wearing Kent State gear and holding a sign that read, 'Remember another time the National Guard was called in?' His sign featured a drawing of the famous photo from the event in which four Kent State students during a protest of the Vietnam War were killed by National Guard troops. I caught up with him to ask him some questions and he told me his name was Chuck Ayers, a professional cartoonist, and was present at the shooting. Image: Ash Parrish 'When I saw the National Guard in front of the federal building in LA,' he told me, 'It was just another flashback.' He did not tell me this at the time, but Ayers is a nationally recognized cartoonist, noted for co-creating the comic strip Crankshaft. He's lived in Ohio his entire life and of course, drew that sign himself. As he was telling me about how seeing news of the National Guard being deployed in LA, I could see him strain to hold back his emotions. He said it still hurts to see this 55 years later, but that he was heartened to see so many people standing here in community and solidarity. He also said that given his pain and trauma he almost didn't come. When I asked why he showed up when it so obviously causes him pain he said simply, 'Because I have to.' — Ash Parrish Oneonta, New York On a northward drive to Oneonta — population roughly 15,000, the largest city in New York's mainly rural Otsego County — one of the most prominent landmarks is a sprawling barn splashed in huge, painted block letters with TRUMP 2024. (The final digits have been faithfully updated every election since 2016.) It's Trump country, but not uniformly Trumpy country, as evidenced by what I estimated as a hundreds-strong crowd gathered in a field just below Main Street that came together with a friendly county-fair atmosphere. Kids sat on their parents' shoulders; American flags fluttered next to signs with slogans like SHADE NEVER MADE ANYONE LESS GAY, and attendees grumbled persistently about the event's feeble sound system, set up on the bed of a pickup truck. It was the kind of conspicuously patriotic, far-from-urban protest that the Trump administration has all but insisted doesn't exist. Image: Adi Robertson Beyond a general condemnation of Trump, protest signs repped the same issues being denounced across the country. The wars in Gaza and Ukraine made an appearance, as did Elon Musk and Tesla. A couple of people called out funding cuts for organizations like NPR, one neatly lettered sign reminded us that WEATHER FORECASTING SAVES LIVES, another warned 'Keep your nasty little hands off Social Security,' and a lot — unsurprisingly, given the past week's events — attacked mass deportations and ICE. An attendee who identified himself as Bill, standing behind a placard that blocked most of him from sight, laid out his anger at the administration's gutting of the Environmental Protection Agency. 'I think if it was not for protests, there would be no change,' he told me. The event itself, supported by a coalition including the local chapter of Indivisible, highlighted topics like reproductive justice and LGBTQ rights alongside issues for groups often stereotyped as Republican blocs — there was a speech about Department of Veterans Affairs cuts and a representative from the local Office for the Aging (whose words were mostly lost to the sound system's whims). Rules for a march around the modest downtown were laid out: no blocking pedestrians or vehicles, and for the sake of families doing weekend shopping, watch the language. 'Fuck!' one person yelled indistinctly from the audience. 'No, no,' the event's emcee chided gently. The philosophy, as she put it, was one of persuasion. 'We want to build the resistance, not make people angry at us.' Image: Adi Robertson But even in a place that will almost certainly never see a National Guard deployment or the ire of a Truth Social post, the Trump administration's brutal deportation program had just hit close to home. Only hours before the protest commenced, ICE agents were recorded handcuffing a man and removing him in an unmarked black car — detaining what was reportedly a legal resident seeking asylum from Venezuela. The mayor of Oneonta, Mark Drnek, relayed the news to the crowd. 'ICE! We see you!' boomed Drnek from the truckbed. 'We recognize you for what you are, and we understand, and we reject your vile purpose.' The crowd cheered furiously. The stars and stripes waved. - Adi Robertson 0 Comments
