Pa. leaders vow to protect protesters' rights but warn about giving in to anger and violence

Yahoo

19 hours ago

Union members and supporters rally in Grand Park calling for the release of union leader David Huerta, who was arrested during an immigration enforcement action on June 9, 2025 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by)
Ahead of a day of national protest against the Trump administration's deportation tactics and deployment of troops to Los Angeles to quell resistance, Pennsylvania leaders and scholars cautioned against allowing anger to set the tone.
'We can't allow ourselves to be moved by our emotions, because the anger that is being provoked, there's a reason for it,' Kenneth Nuriddin, resident imam of The Philadelphia Masjid said Thursday. He warned protestors that yielding to violence would distract from their message and justify a violent government response.
America's immigrant communities have reasons to be angry, Nuriddin, who is the mosque's spiritual leader, said. He spoke at a news conference Thursday with Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner before a planned protest Saturday in the city.
'There's a promise — give me your tired, your poor — that is in the harbor in New York City, inviting people to come. And many people have come because of that invitation,' Nuriddin said, adding the promise has been broken and the invitation rescinded.
Philadelphia is one of hundreds of cities where a partnership of labor, Democratic and anti-Trump organizations have planned non-violent demonstrations to counter the unprecedented military parade Saturday in Washington, D.C., set to coincide with President Donald Trump's birthday.
Krasner vowed to protect the rights of those who protest lawfully in Philadelphia.
'That is our oath,' Krasner said. 'But, we will also hold accountable anyone and everyone, whether they are uniformed ICE agents or opportunistic criminals.'
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Gov. Josh Shapiro emphasized his support of protesters' First Amendment rights, while issuing his own warning against criminal activity. Shapiro said he's working with Philadelphia Mayor Cherelle Parker's office and law enforcement. State and local police will also be coordinating.
'The right to peacefully protest and exercise our First Amendment is a sacred American right — and here in Pennsylvania, we will always protect it,' Shapiro said.
But he added, 'I want to be very clear: all protests and demonstrations must remain peaceful, lawful, and orderly. Violence is not an answer to any political differences. Destruction and chaos are unacceptable — and neither will be permitted here in Pennsylvania.'
Dickinson College President John E. Jones III , who is a retired federal judge, told the Capital-Star he fears Trump's willingness to use military force to tamp down opposition could lead to a tragedy like the massacre at Kent State in 1970 by Ohio National Guard troops who shot and killed four and wounded nine unarmed student protesters.
'We're a military gunshot away from a sort of national crisis,' Jones said, noting that troops are forbidden from carrying out civilian law enforcement in the United States because they're not trained for it.
'You're relying on hundreds of troops to hold their fire in the face of hostile activity and maybe even demonstrations that bait them,' Jones said. 'It only takes one to fire in a fit of anger or apprehension and we've crossed a line that will be very difficult to return from.
Since President Trump took the oath of office for the second time in January, U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement has conducted raids across the nation.
Such tactics have been standard in other administrations for decades. But those conducted in the last six months have been more aggressive, with agents in unmarked vehicles wearing face coverings targeting workers, foreign students and those with pending immigration cases.
Public outrage over the raids reached a boil in the last week as protesters in Los Angeles clashed with law enforcement and Trump responded by deploying National Guard troops and U.S. Marines into the city.
And it reached a new crescendo among elected leaders Thursday as California Democratic U.S. Senator Alex Padilla was shoved to the floor and handcuffed by FBI agents after he attempted to ask Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem questions, while she was holding a news conference in LA.
The FBI said in a statement that Padilla, who interrupted Noem's formal remarks, was not wearing his Senate security pin, which law enforcement uses to quickly identify lawmakers. But he was released after being identified.
Padilla's fellow lawmakers condemned the administration's treatment of the senator.
'It's horrible. It is shocking at every level. And it's not the America I know,' U.S. Senator Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) told reporters.
Pennsylvania Democratic Sen. John Fetterman said in a tweet he was sad to see what happened to Padilla, who 'deserved much better.'
'We collectively must turn the temperature down and find a better way forward for our nation,' Fetterman's tweet said.
Pennsylvania U.S. Rep. Brendan Boyle (D-2nd District) called videos of the incident 'terrible and frightening,' in a tweet.
'If the Trump regime can do this to a sitting United States Senator, then truly no American is safe,' Boyle's tweet said.
Retired Duquesne University constitutional law professor Bruce Ledewitz told the Capital-Star while the Trump administration's reaction to Padilla confronting Noem is unfortunate, he described it as 'performative fascism.'
'This is Trump clearly indicating to the executive branch that, 'We want to look tough. We want to look mean,'' Ledewitz said 'He means this to be a performance. He doesn't mean anyone to get hurt.'
Ledewitz said the incident doesn't rise to the level of a constitutional crisis, noting that while members of Congress are cloaked with the immunity to liability for their speech and actions in the performance of their duties, the Speech and Debate clause 'doesn't include interrupting press conferences.'
Jones offered the same assessment of Padilla's Speech and Debate protections.
'In my experience that hasn't extended to the kind of statements that triggered, literally triggered, FBI agents to push him to the floor and put him in handcuffs,' Jones said.
While Padilla might have a claim under the Fourth Amendment against excessive force he could raise in a civil lawsuit, Jones said he's doubtful that would be worth the lawmaker's effort.
Nonetheless, there was no justification for the reaction to Padilla's attempt to question Noem, Jones said. He noted that he recently has spoken out against the rhetoric Trump adviser Stephen Miller and others have used to attack judges.
'Although I would wish for someone high in the administration to make a statement to try to ratchet down the overheated climate, I was fairly certain that would not happen,' Jones said, adding that entreaties like those from Krasner and the clergy who joined him Thursday are unlikely to stop it.
'I think it's going to be a long, hot summer,' he said.
Capital-Star reporter Ian Karbal contributed to this report.
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