Senator forcibly removed from DHS Secretary Noem's press conference
California's Democratic Senator Alex Padilla was forcibly removed and handcuffed after interrupting Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem's press conference. Padilla said he was just trying to ask her a question, while Noem accused Padilla of trying to create political theater. NBC News' Liz Kreutz reports.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
NBC News
2 hours ago
- NBC News
How Israel's Iran strikes might open 'Pandora's box' for the region — and the U.S.
If Iran did decide to retaliate against American interests, that would likely mean some form of 'major creep' into Iraq or the Gulf, Geranmayeh, at the European Council on Foreign Relations, told NBC News. And that's less likely, according to her and other analysts, because of the rapprochement between Tehran and previous foes such as Saudi Arabia and Qatar in recent years. Despite Israel's overwhelming military superiority, Netanyahu could be in a tricky spot, as he does not have the capabilities to eliminate Iran's nuclear facilities alone, according to Dina Esfandiary, the Middle East geoeconomics lead for Bloomberg Economics, Bloomberg's internal research division. With its U.S.-funded armed forces, Israel 'can do considerable damage' she said. 'But it can't be successful' in its stated objective of 'crippling Iran's nuclear program' without 'the U.S. coming on board,' Esfandiary said. Principally, it doesn't have the means to target the deeply buried underground facilities of Iran's nuclear program, experts say. In short, as Rouzbeh Parsi, director of the Middle East program at the Swedish Institute of International Affairs, put it on X: 'Israel has always been capable of starting this war. But it has been equally clear that it cannot finish it on its own.'
Daily Mail
2 hours ago
- Daily Mail
Democrat turns on his party after arrest of Senator Padilla
Democratic Congressman Jared Golden broke with his party in claiming Sen. Alex Padilla's forceful removal from a DHS press conference was 'political theater' instigated by the California Democrat. The roughly 6'3 Democrat walked into an media event with Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem on Thursday dressed in plainclothes when he attempted to ask her a question. But Maine Democrat Jared Golden told Axios Thursday: 'I don't think politics as theater is what our job is here.' 'I think that it's never good when a senator or member of Congress gets roughed up by law enforcement,' he shared. The startling incident was diffused after law enforcement identified the senator, however, as after Noem's event she claimed to have sat down with the Democrat to speak. Noem has said that Padilla did not identify himself before asking a questions and local news streams of the event appear to back up that claim. 'At one point, I had a question, and so I began to ask a question. I was almost immediately forcibly removed from the room, I was forced to the ground, and I was handcuffed,' Padilla claimed. The FBI put out a statement explaining that since the senator was not wearing his 'Senate security pin' agents were not be able to determine his identity on the fly. Though the Democrat was 'disruptive' he was later released after being 'positively identified,' the FBI shared. Padilla's team sent out a fundraising email on Friday morning highlighting his stand at the DHS press conference. Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., told reporters on Thursday that 'at minimum' Padilla should be censured - a rare and dishonorable distinction Congress votes on to condemn members publicly.
Metro
3 hours ago
- Metro
Lawmaker forcefully removed from Trump secretary's LA protests conference
To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video A US lawmaker was forcibly dragged out of a press conference on the Los Angeles protests held by President Donald Trump's 'ICE Barbie' and handcuffed. Democratic Senator Alex Padilla interrupted Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem's update on immigration enforcement at the Federal Building in LA on Thursday by shouting, 'I have questions for the secretary!' Secret Service and FBI agents quickly surrounded Padilla, restrained him and escorted him out of the room. Padilla said, 'Hands off!' several times before he was pinned to the floor facedown in the hallway and handcuffed with his arms around his back. He later posted a video of the ordeal recorded by one of his staff members, and explained that he was just trying to provide oversight as a ranking member of the judiciary subcommittee on immigration, citizenship and border safety. 'If that's what they do to a United States Senator with a question, imagine what they can do to any American that dares to speak up,' wrote Padilla on X (formerly Twitter). 'We will hold this administration accountable.' California Governor Gavin Newsom called it 'outrageous, dictatorial, and shameful' and wrote on X that 'Trump and his shock troops are out of control'. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) stated that they believed Padilla was the person who 'lunged toward' Noem and falsely claimed that he did not identify himself. 'Mr Padilla was told repeatedly to back away and did not comply with officers' repeated commands,' wrote the department on X. The DHS concluded that agents 'acted appropriately'. Noem said she wished that Padilla had reached out before interrupting the conference in a manner that 'wasn't appropriate'. She added that she and Padilla met for 15 minutes after the incident and had a 'great' and 'productive' conversation. More Trending Tensions have been high in LA as Trump and Newsom continue to spar over protests against the president's immigration crackdown. Trump ordered thousands of National Guard troops and Marines to the city to support efforts by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to deport undocumented people. Newsom sued Trump and a judge blocked Trump's use of the National Guard in LA, but an appeals court is temporarily allowing troops to stay. Protests have spread across multiple major cities in the US. Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@ For more stories like this, check our news page. MORE: Urgent recall of over 1,150,000 power banks for fire and explosion risk MORE: Donald Trump opens up on Elon Musk being 'strange' and what went wrong in bromance MORE: Google, Spotify and YouTube down for tens of thousands of users worldwide
