Secret Service Followed Protocol in Padilla Incident
California Sen. Alex Padilla is getting plenty of mileage out of his scuffle with the Secret Service and federal authorities in Los Angeles Thursday.
Padillas Senate and campaign X.com accounts posted a total of seven outraged videos in the first 24 hours after the altercation.
Viral videos of the incident show a Secret Service agent dragging a fuming Padilla out of a press conference with Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, and he identifies himself as a senator only as hes being pushed out the door. The agent then forces Padilla to the ground, while two agents handcuff him.
Padilla, however, wasnt arrested. Within the hour, agents released him with no charges.
Dozens of Democratic members of Congress then jumped to Padillas defense, denouncing the action while casting the Secret Service and FBI agents involved as an extension of what they labeled as President Trumps totalitarian police state.
Sen. Schumer called the Secret Services use of force "cruel and unacceptable."
"This was a deliberate attempt to intimidate an elected official whose only offense is standing up for the voiceless," Schumer said. "But its not just about Sen. Padilla, its about every person who dares to speak truth to power."
Republicans and conservative commentators countered that it was all a big publicity stunt and noted that a Padilla staffer filmed the tussle and then quickly distributed it to the media in the room.
"Sen. Padilla didnt want answers - he wanted airtime," Rep. Byron Donalds said on Fox News Thursday night. "Shoving past security for a viral moment is a stunt, not leadership. If he cared about solutions, hed have asked for a meeting. But like most Democrats, he just wants the spotlight."
"Alex Padilla is an embarrassment to California," said Steve Hilton, who is running for governor in California as a Republican. "Hes a complete nonentity. Thats why they didnt recognize him … [he has] zero accomplishments and now this pathetic stunt as his only claim to fame."
Yet, one Republican, Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, an ardent Trump critic, condemned Padillas treatment as "shocking at every level" and "not the America I know."
Secret Service experts argue nothing could be further from the truth - that the agent was simply following normal protocol. Padilla, they said, actually received preferential treatment by not being arrested and jailed for his menacing display. The Secret Service agent warned Padilla, whom agents did not recognize as a senator and who wasnt wearing his Senate pin, to back away from Noem and then forcibly removed him when he ignored their entreaties.
"They can represent this however they want, but those agents made the right decision to get him out of the room," Charles Marino, a former Secret Service agent told RealClearPolitics. "He did not have a congressional pin on, he was yelling and closing distance very quickly to make it to the front of the room to confront Noem."
"Look, hes not above the law. Anyone taking those actions would been treated far worse - they would have been arrested and been forced to spend some time in jail," Marino said. "Who was escalating the situation? When you look at Padillas action, taken in totality, the agents had no other choice."
Instead of dragging him to a cell, federal agents released the senator after the incident. Then Noem met with Padilla for 15 minutes and gave him her cell phone number to discuss matters further.
"We probably disagree on 90% of the topics, but we agreed to exchange phone numbers and continue to talk - that is the way it should be in this country," Noem told Fox News Thursday afternoon.
The Homeland Security Department issued a statement Thursday defending the federal agents actions, arguing that Padilla chose "disrespectful political theater" over constructive congressional oversight.
Padilla, the agency said, "interrupted a live press conference without identifying himself or having his Senate security pin on as he lunged toward Secretary Noem."
"Mr. Padilla was told repeatedly to back away and did not comply with officers repeated commands," the department added. "@Secret Service thought he was an attacker and officers acted appropriately."
Several other Secret Service sources backed up Marinos account.
"Any sudden movement towards a protectee that feels threatening, especially when that person has not been identified, the policy is 100% to prevent further escalation or movement toward Noem," said a source in the Secret Service community. "We would have done the same thing for anyone threatening [former DHS Secretary] Mayorkas."
Even though the situation escalated very quickly, the agent still followed the basic rules of engagement for law enforcement, the source asserted. Agents and officers first ask a person to move away from the protectee, then they tell them firmly to move away, and if those warnings arent abided, then they can use physical force to move the threatening person away.
"Its a pretty common law enforcement way of relaying information and taking action, because emotions can get the best of people, and agents are forced to err on the side of protection," the source added.
After the two assassination attempts against Trump, agents are highly attuned to aggressive behavior and working to ensure theyre not involved in any security lapses.
"In this day and age, you can see what a split-second hesitate could result in," one former agent remarked. "Could you imagine if the agent didnt respond, and Padilla got on the stage and hit [Noem]?"
The agency has been knocked around for months for the egregious security failures in Butler, Pennsylvania, on July 13 and then nearly two months later during another close call against Trump at his West Palm Beach golf course.
And just because its Padilla who was attending a press conference doesnt mean assaults against a Cabinet secretary or president are unlikely to occur. During a December 2008 press conference in Iraq, an Iraqi journalist threw both of his shoes at former President George W. Bush in a pique of outrage.
Secret Service agents with their zero-fail mission have to be poised to respond to all types of unexpected threats, which sometimes come with no warning at all.
Back in 2005, during Bushs visit to the country of Georgia, a man attempted to assassinate Bush and then-Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili by throwing a hand grenade at both of them.
"Listen, we dont always know who you are if youre not wearing your [congressional] pin," the source said. "Youre coming at [Noem] in an aggressive manner, and you didnt heed our warnings to stop. If you get into the buffer zone, we have to take you down. All public officials should know, and I would hope understand, that."
Susan Crabtree is RealClearPolitics' national political correspondent.
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