Los Angeles: California Senator Alex Padilla forcibly pushed out of Homeland Security protest briefing
Shocking footage has surfaced showing a US senator being forcibly removed from a press conference led by Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem in Los Angeles, amid ongoing protests.
California Democratic Senator Alex Padilla was confronted by security after he interrupted the conference and attempted to shout questions at Ms Noem.
Videos circulating on social media show Mr Padilla being physically pushed out of the room by security guards.
As he was escorted away, the Senator continued to shout remarks criticising the Trump Administration's immigration policies.
Mr Padilla was then taken into a hallway, where he was handcuffed by FBI officers who provided security for the federal building where the conference was held, according to reports from
CNN
.
This comes amid growing tension in the city, following protests that erupted after US President Donald Trump ordered Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents to remove illegal immigrants from the United States.
Former Vice President Kamala Harris has taken to social media to express her outrage over Mr Padilla's forced removal from the press briefing.
'United States Senator Alex Padilla was representing the millions of Californians who are demanding answers to this Administration's actions in Southern California,' she wrote on X.
'This is a shameful and stunning abuse of power.'
Meanwhile, California Governor Gavin Newsom wrote on his X account, 'If they handcuff a US senator for asking a question, imagine what they will do to you'.
Mr Padilla said he attended the press conference in hope of getting some answers after Mr Trump deployed 4000 National Guard troops and around 700 Marines to quell the protests in Los Angeles.
'After identifying myself and trying to ask a question, I was aggressively pushed out of the room, forced to the ground, and handcuffed.'
The Senator told CNN that he was not arrested or detained.
After the incident, Ms Noem revealed that 'nobody knew' Mr Padilla's identity when he 'lunged toward the podium' during her press briefing.
'We were conducting a press conference to update everyone on the enforcement actions that are ongoing to bring peace in the city of Los Angeles, and this man burst into the room, started lunging towards the podium, interrupting me and elevating his voice, and was stopped, did not identify himself, and was removed from the room,' Ms Noem said on Fox News, as per CNN.
Ms Noem confirmed to reporters that the National Guard and military will remain in Los Angeles to 'liberate' the city.
'The Department of Homeland Security and the officers and the agencies and the departments and the military people that are working on this operation will continue to sustain and increase our operations in this city,' she revealed to media in the room.
'We are not going away.'
Ms Noem's remarks come against the backdrop of several days of protests targeting her agency and its immigration enforcement actions.
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