Padilla to speak on Senate floor following removal from Noem news conference in Los Angeles
California Democratic Sen. Alex Padilla is set to deliver a speech on the Senate floor Tuesday morning, almost a week after he was forcibly removed from Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem's news conference in Los Angeles.
A statement from Padilla's office said he will call on his Democratic and Republican colleagues and on the American people to speak up about what he calls President Trump's "abuse of power," following the deployment of National Guard and U.S. Marines troops to L.A. after protests in the city turned violent.
Padilla said Sunday on "Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan" that he was at the Wilshire Federal Building in Westwood on Thursday for a briefing with U.S. Northern Command that was delayed due to Noem's news conference, where she was providing an update on immigration enforcement operations and protests in the area. Padilla said that he asked to listen in on Noem's remarks, adding that he felt Noem had not previously provided "substantive answers" to questions posed by Congress.
Noem was discussing what she called the "burdensome leadership" of California Gov. Gavin Newsom and L.A. Mayor Karen Bass, when Padilla attempted to interrupt her to ask a question.
Padilla was heard yelling, "I'm Sen. Alex Padilla and I have questions for the secretary," before he was forcibly removed from the room by federal agents. A video released by Padilla's office showed the senator being pushed to the ground in a hallway where he was handcuffed.
After the incident, Padilla addressed the media outside, saying he was trying to get information from Noem about DHS's immigration actions around the L.A. area and the state.
After her news conference, Noem told reporters that she "wished that [Padilla] would have reached out and identified himself and let us know who he was and that he wanted to talk." Deputy FBI Director Dan Bongino wrote on X that Padilla was not wearing a security pin at the time of the incident and "physically resisted law enforcement." Padilla has pushed back against those claims and noted that, in addition to identifying himself, he was wearing a polo shirt with a U.S. Senate logo on the chest.
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