Latest news with #SenatorPadilla
Fox News
09-07-2025
- Politics
- Fox News
Crockett said she 'broke down in tears' watching Alex Padilla get forcibly removed from press conference
Rep. Jasmine Crockett, D-Texas, said in a new podcast interview that she "broke down in tears" seeing California Sen. Alex Padilla's forcible removal from a Department of Homeland Security press conference in June. The Democratic firebrand was a guest on comedian Hasan Minhaj's podcast posted Wednesday, where she reacted to the viral incident. "I had no warning whatsoever. And so I see they're playing a loop of what happened to Senator Padilla. And I literally just broke down in tears and started crying," Crockett said as she recounted seeing the video playing on television at the time. "It's hard for me to imagine, even just looking at Sen. Padilla. This is the first Latino senator that the state of California has ever had," she continued. "He's the senior senator in the state… and then there's no respect. Not a modicum of respect for him, nor his position nor his humanity." She clarified that she didn't think anyone should have "ICE [Immigration and Customs Enforcement] take you down to the ground" because "you have the audacity" to exercise free speech. "It tells you how sinister this administration is," Crockett continued. During a DHS press conference with Kristi Noem in Los Angeles on June 12, Padilla entered the room and interrupted the Homeland Security Secretary as she was giving prepared remarks. Videos of the incident showed that he did not immediately identify himself, and was quickly swarmed by Secret Service and FBI agents, who bellowed "hands up." "I'm Sen. Alex Padilla," he said amid the scuffle. "I have questions for the secretary." He was taken from the room and brought to the floor where he was briefly handcuffed while the press conference continued. Though Noem met with the senator afterward, video of officers bringing Padilla to the ground quickly spread and triggered a media firestorm. Republicans accused the senator of making a "spectacle" of himself, while over 200 Democrats from both chambers condemned the "unprecedented incident." The tense situation occurred as riots raged in Los Angeles in response to ICE raids. The violent protests and unrest triggered President Donald Trump to mobilize the National Guard in response and for curfews to be enacted in the city.
Fox News
19-06-2025
- Politics
- Fox News
Another Dem STUNTS for Attention
Another Dem STUNTS for Attention Another week, another Democrat tantrum for attention and illegal aliens, but mostly for attention. I'm Tomi Lahren, more next. Democrats are acting out and acting a fool for illegal aliens and attention, again. This time it was NYC comptroller and mayoral candidate Brad Lander who was arrested for obstruction of ICE operations at a federal immigration court in New York City. He DEMANDED to see a judicial warrant for an illegal being arrested by ICE agents, and of course bum rushed his way onto the scene. Look, we all know this isn't even really about the illegal alien or the court or the ICE operation, this was about what it's always about for Democrats- at least since January 20th- and that is … .attention and name recognition. It's the new thing. The new trend for Democrats. Truth is they all wanna be influencers and right now it's en vogue to do it at the expense of ICE operations and federal immigration law. It's a sad pattern, Senator Padilla, Rep LaMonica McIver, Senator Van Hollen, the list goes on. It's a desperate plea for attention and clout. This is what the Democrat Party has come to….sad. I'm Tomi Lahren and you watch my show 'Tomi Lahren is Fearless' at Learn more about your ad choices. Visit
CNN
17-06-2025
- Politics
- CNN
Padilla speaks out after clash with Noem's security
Sen. Alex Padilla shares his experience and what he learned after a skirmish with Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem's security in Los Angeles.
New York Times
17-06-2025
- Politics
- New York Times
Senate Democrats Want Noem to Testify After Senator Is Pushed and Handcuffed
Senate Democrats on Tuesday called on Kristi Noem, the homeland security secretary, to testify at a hearing on Capitol Hill about the forcible removal of Senator Alex Padilla of California from a news conference she was holding last week. In a letter to the committee's Republican chair, the Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee also said they wanted to question her about the Trump's administration's immigration enforcement, including the use of masked agents to make arrests, whether immigration officials were defying court orders and the justification of mass deportations via the Alien Enemies Act. The group of 10 senators, which includes Mr. Padilla, characterized the California senator's treatment by federal agents last week as part of a pattern of abuses of presidential power. He was shoved out of a room, told to drop to his knees in a hallway and handcuffed. 'The treatment of Senator Padilla is the latest in a string of attacks on our constitutional order,' the senators wrote, according to a copy of the letter obtained by The New York Times. Though Ms. Noem has come to the Capitol several times in the past month for hearings related to her department's budget, she has not come before the Senate Judiciary Committee. Republicans control the committee and its subpoena power, and Democrats cannot call hearings or compel testimony. According to the senators' letter, the top Democrat on the committee, Senator Richard J. Durbin of Illinois, has sent eight letters and briefing requests to the Homeland Security Department that have gone unanswered. Mr. Padilla has characterized his attendance at a news conference in Los Angeles week as part his effort to seek responses from the Trump administration over its immigration policy. Federal agents removed and handcuffed him after he tried to ask Ms. Noem a question about the enforcement efforts. A Homeland Security spokeswoman accused him of engaging in 'disrespectful theater' and said that the Secret Service mistook him for an attacker because he was not wearing his Senate security pin. In a 20-minute speech on the Senate floor on Tuesday, Mr. Padilla said that the incident heightened his concerns that the Trump administration was violating the due process rights of immigrants and infringing on Americans' constitutional rights to free speech and peaceful protest. At times getting choked up, Mr. Padilla described being 'physically and aggressively forced out of the room, even as I repeatedly announced I was a United States senator.' And he said that as he was handcuffed and 'marched down a hallway,' he was concerned that he might be arrested or detained. Ultimately, he was not. But likening Mr. Trump to an authoritarian, Mr. Padilla said that his experience suggested that the Trump administration might take bold steps to quiet dissent. 'If that is what the administration is willing to do to a United States senator for having the authority to simply ask a question, imagine what they'll do to any American who dares to speak up,' he said.
Yahoo
15-06-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
The Alex Padilla altercation was captured on video but still seen through a political lens
A day after federal agents forcibly restrained and handcuffed U.S. Sen Alex Padilla at a Los Angeles news conference, leaders of the country's two political parties responded in what has become a predictable fashion — with diametrically opposed takes on the incident. Padilla's fellow Democrats called for an investigation and perhaps even the resignation of the senator's nemesis, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, for what they described as the unprecedented manhandling of a U.S. senator who was merely attempting to ask a question of a fellow public official. Noem and fellow Republicans continued to depict Padilla as a grandstander, whose unexpected appearance at Noem's news conference seemed to her security detail to represent a threat, as she tried to speak to reporters at the Federal Building in Westwood. Republicans continued Friday to chastise Padilla, using words like 'launch,' 'lunge' and 'bum rush' to describe Padilla's behavior as he began to try to pose a question to Noem at Thursday's news conference. The Trump administration official was just a few minutes into her meeting with reporters when Padilla moved assertively from the side of the room, pushing past a Times photographer as he moved to more directly address Noem. He did not lunge at Noem and was still paces away from her when her security detail grabbed the senator. Read more: Arellano: Sen. Alex Padilla's crime? Being Mexican in MAGA America Padilla and his staff described how the veteran lawmaker went through security and was escorted by an FBI employee to the room where the press conference was held, saying it was absurd to suggest he presented a threat. Padilla spoke out after the secretary asserted that her homeland security agents had come to L.A. to "liberate the city from the socialists and the burdensome leadership that the governor and the mayor have placed on this country.' The former South Dakota governor would have some reason to recognize Padilla, since he questioned her during her Senate confirmation hearing. A spokesperson at the Homeland Security Department did not respond to a question of whether Noem recognized Padilla when he arrived at her press conference. As has become the norm in the nation's political discourse, Republicans and Democrats spoke about the confrontation Friday as if they had observed two entirely separate incidents. Sen. Ben Ray Lujan (D-N.M.) said Noem 'should step down,' adding: 'This is ridiculous. And she continues to lie about this incident. This is wrong.' Lujan urged his Republican colleagues to support Democrats in asking for 'a full investigation.' 'This is bad. This is precedent-setting,' Lujan told MSNBC. 'And I certainly hope that the leadership of the Senate, my Republican leaders, my friends, that they just look within. Pray on it. That's what I told a couple of them last night. Pray on this and do the right thing.' Members of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus went to Speaker Mike Johnson's office to protest Padilla's treatment. Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.) spoke out on X and on the floor of the Senate. He said the episode fit into 'a pattern of behavior by the Trump administration. There is simply no justification for this abuse of authority …. There can be no justification of seeing a senator forced to their knees.' Rep. Joaquin Castro (D-Texas) went on X to repeat the call for an investigation and to say that 'Republican leadership is complicit in enabling the growing authoritarianism in this country.' Speaking publicly only one Republican lawmaker sounded a note of distress about the episode. 'I've seen that one clip. It's horrible,' said Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska). 'It is shocking at every level. It's not the America I know.' But most Republicans remained silent, or accused Padilla of being a provocateur. 'I think the senator's actions, my view is, it was wildly inappropriate,' said Johnson, the House speaker. 'You don't charge a sitting Cabinet secretary.' Johnson added that it was Padilla, who should face some sanction. 'At a minimum … [it] rises to the level of a censure. … I think there needs to be a message sent by the body as a whole that that is not what we are going to do, that's not how we're going to act.' Rep. Tom McClintock, (R-Elk Grove) zinged Padilla on X, with some 'helpful tips.' '1. Don't disrupt other people's press conferences. Hold your own instead. 2. Don't bum-rush a podium with no visible identification. ... 3. Don't resist or assault the Secret Service. It won't end well.' Rep. Jay Obernolte (R-Big Bear Lake) also sought to reinforce the notion that agents protecting Noem sensed a real threat, having no way of knowing that Padilla was who he said he was. The congressman said on Fox Business that Padilla had obtained "the outcome that they wanted. Now they have a talking point.' Read more: L.A. braces for multiple 'No Kings' demonstrations across the city Saturday None of the officials in the room, several of whom know Padilla, intervened to prevent the action by the agents, who eventually pushed the senator, face down, onto the ground, before handcuffing him. Noem did not back off her earlier statement that Padilla had 'burst' into the room. "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,' Tricia McLaughlin, an assistant Homeland Security secretary, said in a statement Friday. McLaughlin also said that Padilla 'was told repeatedly to back away and did not comply with officers' repeated commands,' though video made public by Friday did not show such warnings, in advance of Padilla's first statement. The senator's staff members said he privately had received messages of concern from several Republican colleagues, including Sen. Tim Sheehy (R-Mont.) Padilla told Tommy Vietor of the "Pod Save America" podcast that Trump's aggressive immigration crackdown is an attempt to distract from many other failures — continued instability with the economy, a lack of peace in Ukraine and Gaza and a federal budget plan that is proving unpopular with many Americans. 'He always finds a distraction," Padilla said, "and, when all else fails, he goes back to demonizing and scapegoating immigrants. … He creates a crisis to get us all talking about something else." Padilla said repeatedly that Americans should be concerned about how everyday citizens will be treated, if forces working for the Trump administration are allowed to "tackle" a U.S. senator asking questions in a public building. On Friday afternoon, he sent a mass email urging his constituents to sign up for the protests planned for Saturday, to counter the military parade Trump is holding in Washington. "PLEASE show up and speak out against what is happening," Padilla wrote. "We cannot allow the Trump administration to intimidate us into silence." Sign up for Essential California for news, features and recommendations from the L.A. Times and beyond in your inbox six days a week. This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
