2 days ago
House floor devolves into chaos as lawmakers have a profane shouting match over Alex Padilla arrest
Two New York Congressmen got into a wild shouting match on the floor of the House of Representatives over the arrest earlier Thursday of Senator Alex Padilla.
John Mannion, a New York Democrat, challenged fellow New Yorker and GOP Congressman Mike Lawler after Padilla was arrested when he interrupted ICE Barbie Kristi Noem's press conference.
Lawler was on the House floor speaking to Democrat Jimmy Pannetta of California when Mannion started losing it on him, saying to Lawler to 'get off the Democratic side of the floor.'
An anonymous House Democrat tells Axios Mannion 'stands up and just starts yelling at him for absolutely no reason but emotion about the atmosphere that we're in right now.'
However, his vulgar outburst was eventually captured on video, with Mannion yelling: 'You've got to do something. Stand up. Grow a pair of balls.'
'F***ing get over there and get some f***ing balls! Tell them! Tell them! You know who I am!'
At that point, the microphone over the House floor was turned off and all that could be heard was muffled shouting.
In a statement to social media, Lawler didn't hold back in his contempt for the Democrat.
'John Mannion was entirely unhinged and unprofessional. That was a shameful display that exposed his complete lack of temperament. No wonder numerous staffers have previously alleged a toxic work environment. He should go seek help for anger management - and f*** off.'
Last August, Mannion was cleared by a New York State Senate investigation into claims of harassment, The New York Post reported.
When asked what the shouting was about Mannion told Axios that he and Lawler 'served in the state legislature' in New York and that he 'knows well enough.
'I asked him to compel his colleagues to save the country and stop what the people of this country do not want ... the defiance of law,' Mannion added.
However, even Mannion's fellow Democrats were left baffled, as Panetta - who Lawler was originally speaking to - asked him: 'What are you doing?'
'My own thing,' Mannion shrugged and replied.
All Panetta could say in response was: "Apparently, man.'
'What we're seeing with the actions of this administration is out of control, and Republicans aren't doing anything to reign it in. Tempers are flaring,' Texas Democrat Julie Johnson said of the mood on the House floor.
Padilla began shouting over Noem before he was forcibly removed from the room by multiple guards and placed in handcuffs.
Noem was speaking and the Q&A portion of the meeting had not started when Padilla started heckling and interrupting, saying: 'I'm Senator Alex Padilla, and I have questions for the secretary...'
As he was escorted out of the room during the tense interaction, he said: 'The fact of the matter is half a dozen violent criminals that you're rotating on your…. hands off!'
Startling footage shared by Padilla's team showed that he was forced to his knees, then onto the ground, outside of the room - and was put in handcuffs by the FBI.
Padilla, who is the son of Mexican immigrants, slammed the Trump administration and their treatment of migrants after the ordeal at his own blistering press conference.
'If this is how the Department of Homeland Security responds to a senator with a question, you can only imagine what they're doing to farmworkers, to cooks, to day laborers out in the Los Angeles community,' he said in the impassioned statement.
Trump's immigration chief Noem was in Los Angeles to discuss the Trump Administration's response to the anti-ICE protests and immigration raids in the area.
'We are not going away. We are staying here to liberate this city from the socialist and the burdensome leadership that this governor and mayor have placed on this country and what they've tried to insert in this city,' she said as Padilla interrupted.
Noem condemned the senator for the disruption and noted that he had not even asked for a meeting with her.
'I think everybody in America would agree that that was inappropriate,' she said.
Sen. Padilla's team released a statement shortly after insisting he was at the press conference to perform his congressional duties.
'Senator Padilla is currently in Los Angeles exercising his duty to perform Congressional oversight of the federal government's operations in Los Angeles and across California,' the statement said.
'He was in the federal building to receive a briefing with General Guillot and was listening to Secretary Noem's press conference.
'He tried to ask the Secretary a question, and was forcibly removed by federal agents, forced to the ground and handcuffed. He is not currently detained, and we are working to get additional information.'
After the press conference, Noem addressed the incident while standing outside the federal building.
'If he would have reached out and identified himself and let us know who he was and wanted to talk. His approach was something I don't think was appropriate at all. But the conversation was great and we are going to communicate,' she said.
'We exchanged phone numbers and we are going to continue to talk. People need to identify themselves before lunging during press conferences.'
DHS said on X that Secret Service agents believed Padilla was an attacker and they acted accordingly.
'Senator Padilla chose disrespectful political theatre and interrupted a live press conference without identifying himself or having his Senate security pin on as he lunged toward Secretary Noem,' the agency said.
'Mr. Padilla was told repeatedly to back away and did not comply with officers' repeated commands. @SecretService thought he was an attacker and officers acted appropriately.
'Secretary Noem met with Senator Padilla after and held a 15 minute meeting.'
Noem called Padilla's statement about the incident 'ridiculous' and told Fox News she believed he wanted to cause a scene.
'The way that he acted was completely inappropriate. It wasn't becoming of a U.S. Senator or official and perhaps he wanted the scene,' she said.
'This man burst into a room and started advancing towards the podium, interrupting an opening statement and, elevating his voice and shouting questions.
'People tried to stop him from interrupting the press conference, but he refused and continued to lunge towards the podium.'
The DHS secretary told the outlet she met with the senator for about 10 to 15 minutes afterwards and the two even exchanged phone numbers.
California Governor Gavin Newsom condemned Padilla's detention on social media.
'Sen. Alex Padilla is one of the most decent people I know. This is outrageous, dictatorial, and shameful. Trump and his shock troops are out of control. This must end now,' he said.
'If they can handcuff a U.S. Senator for asking a question, imagine what they will do to you.'
Former Vice President Kamala Harris, who Padilla replaced in the senate when she was elected VP, said, 'United States Senator Alex Padilla was representing the millions of Californians who are demanding answers to this Administration's actions in Southern California. This is a shameful and stunning abuse of power.'
Republican Senator Lisa Murkowski told reporters, 'It's horrible. It is shocking at every level. It's not the America I know.'
