Senator Alex Padilla Forcibly Removed and Handcuffed After Confronting Noem
Senator Alex Padilla, Democrat of California, was forcibly removed from a news conference being held by Kristi Noem, the Homeland Security secretary, and handcuffed on Thursday after he pushed past guards at a federal building in West Los Angeles.
'Sir! Sir! Hands off!' Mr. Padilla, 52, shouted as federal agents tried to muscle him out of the room where Ms. Noem was speaking inside a government office building about 15 miles west of downtown Los Angeles. 'I am Senator Alex Padilla, I have a question for the secretary.'
As Mr. Padilla — a graduate of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the son of Mexican immigrants and a Los Angeles native — began to question the authenticity of a bank of mug shots behind her, agents shoved him out of the room, told him to drop to his knees in a hallway and handcuffed him, based on videos taken by Mr. Padilla's office and a Fox News reporter.
A small group of reporters pivoted their cameras toward the disruption. Other national and local journalists were forced to wait outside the building after officials blocked access to the news conference shortly before the event began.
The secretary was at a podium thanking the U.S. Army, the Marines and the National Guard for providing 'security' when Mr. Padilla made his entrance.
Mr. Padilla told reporters that he learned of Ms. Noem's news conference while he was waiting for a scheduled briefing down the hall. He said he has asked for answers about the administration's 'increasingly extreme' immigration actions and has not been able to get them.
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