Federal agents drag California U.S. senator from Kristi Noem's Los Angeles press conference in handcuffs
A Fox News reporter captured a shocking situation on video Thursday. Sen. Alex Padilla did not shout. He did not disrupt. He identified himself. 'I am Senator Alex Padilla,' he said calmly as federal agents moved in. Moments later, the California Democrat—ranking member of the Senate Judiciary Immigration Subcommittee—was dragged from a Department of Homeland Security press conference in Los Angeles, forced to the ground, and handcuffed by multiple officers.
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Padilla, the first Latino U.S. senator from California, had been at the Wilshire Federal Building to receive a scheduled briefing from U.S. Northern Command's Gen. Gregory Guillot. According to his office, the senator stopped to listen to remarks by Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem. When he tried to ask a question, he was physically restrained by federal agents.
'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. 'He is not currently detained, and we are working to get additional information.'
Footage of the incident spread quickly online. One widely circulated clip shows Padilla being grabbed and pulled from the room as he identifies himself as a sitting senator. In a second video posted on Bluesky, Padilla is seen being forced to the floor as several officers kneel on and around him to secure his wrists. Toward the end of the clip, a voice off-camera says, 'There's no recording allowed out here,' and the video abruptly cuts off.
At a press conference just before 3:30 p.m. EDT, Padilla confirmed what the video had already shown.
'I was there peacefully,' he said. '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 emphasized he had not been arrested or formally detained. But he warned that the episode revealed something far broader about the Trump administration's posture toward dissent.
'If this is how this administration responds to a senator with a question, you can only imagine what they're doing to farmworkers, to custodians, to Angelenos,' Padilla said. 'We will hold this administration accountable.'
He added that the Department of Homeland Security had repeatedly refused to answer oversight inquiries from Senate colleagues about its recent immigration enforcement operations: 'We've gotten little to no information in response.'
Related: Trump's DHS considers reality TV show where immigrants fight for citizenship
The confrontation unfolded as Los Angeles continued to reel from sweeping immigration enforcement operations and a militarized federal response. After several nights of curfews and more than 200 localized protest-related arrests, President Donald Trump federalized 4,000 National Guard troops and deployed 700 Marines—despite vocal objections from California Gov. Gavin Newsom and Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass. California has filed a federal lawsuit seeking to block the use of military forces outside federal property.
The legality of the deployment remains in question. Under the Posse Comitatus Act of 1878, active-duty military—including the Marines—cannot engage in civilian law enforcement unless the president invokes the Insurrection Act. Trump has not done so.
Tensions between the administration and congressional Democrats have escalated nationwide. This week, Rep. LaMonica McIver of New Jersey was indicted on federal charges for allegedly interfering with immigration officers during a May visit to a detention facility—an incident her office calls political retaliation for lawful oversight.
Related: Immigration judge dismisses asylum case of gay Venezuelan deported to Salvadoran supermax prison
Padilla, a critic of Trump's immigration agenda, was one of the few federal lawmakers attempting to confront the administration's actions directly and in person. His restraint, as caught on video, drew swift condemnation from Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer.
'Watching this video sickened my stomach,' Schumer wrote. 'The manhandling of a United States Senator, Senator Padilla. We need immediate answers to what the hell went on.'
Noem's spokesperson, Tricia McLaughlin, did not respond to a request for comment from The Advocate.
Civil rights groups expressed alarm over Padilla's treatment. 'A sitting U.S. Senator should be allowed to ask a Cabinet Secretary a question at a press conference—in his own state, on an issue affecting his constituents—without being violently thrown to the floor and handcuffed,' Jay Brown, chief of staff at the Human Rights Campaign, said in a statement. 'Everyone who cares about our country must condemn this undemocratic act. Full stop.'
The incident comes just ahead of more than 1,500 'No Kings Day' protests scheduled nationwide for Saturday, organized to counter Trump's June 14 authoritarian military parade in Washington, D.C., and draw attention to what civil rights advocates call the normalization of federal force against political dissent.
Padilla closed his remarks by urging protesters to remain peaceful. 'Just like I was calmly and peacefully listening in that press conference and preparing—attempting—to ask a question,' he said, 'I encourage everybody to please peacefully protest.'
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