LOS ANGELES — Federal agents on Thursday forcibly removed Sen. Alex Padilla, D-Calif., from a news conference held by Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem in Los Angeles.
Video of the incident shows the senator being pushed by three men as he said, “I have questions for the secretary because the fact of the matter is half a dozen criminals." The end of his sentence was not audible as he was removed from the room.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom posted on X within minutes of the incident saying, “Senator 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.”
Another video posted to social media shows the senator on his stomach on the ground while being handcuffed.
Noem said Padilla did not ask for a meeting with her, and she criticized his interruption of her news conference at FBI headquarters in LA.
“I think everybody in America would agree that that was inappropriate,” she said.
The Department of Homeland Security posted on X after the incident: "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. Mr. Padilla was told repeatedly to back away and did not comply with officers' repeated commands."
DHS said the Secret Service thought Padilla was an attacker and that officers acted appropriately. The agency added that Noem met with Padilla for 15 minutes after the incident.
"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," Padilla's office said in a statement following the incident.
Padilla, who is the ranking member of the Senate Judiciary's immigration subcommittee, was in the federal building to receive a briefing with Air Force Gen. Gregory Guillot and was listening to Noem's news conference, according to the statement. When he tried to ask Noem a question, the statement said he was forcibly removed by federal agents, forced to the ground and handcuffed.
Padilla is not currently detained. His office said it is working to get additional information.
Noem's news conference took place amid ongoing protests in Los Angeles prompted by nearly a week of Immigrations and Customs Enforcement actions in the metro area that have resulted in 330 undocumented immigrants being detained, according to the White House. Press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Wednesday that 115 of the individuals detained have a criminal history.
Padilla, the son of immigrants from Mexico, has been a harsh Trump critic and his mass deportations agenda. In a post on the social platform X, he said of recent federal immigration raids in Los Angeles, “Trump isn’t targeting criminals in his mass deportation agenda, he is terrorizing communities, breaking apart families and putting American citizens in harm's way.”
Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer said what he saw “sickened my stomach.”
“We need immediate answers to what the hell went on,” the New York senator said from the Senate floor. “It’s despicable, it’s disgusting, it’s so un-American.”
Padilla's fellow California senator, Adam Schiff, also a Democrat, said he is "shocked by how far we have descended in the first 140 days of this administration."
"What is becoming of our democracy?" Schiff said on the Senate floor. "Are there no limits to what this administration will do? Is there no line they will not cross? We see lawlessness after lawlessness. We see threats to judges of impeachment and of physical harm. We see arrests of members of Congress. And now this."
Rep. Jimmy Gomez, D-Calif., condemned Noem's actions, pointing out that Padilla is an elected U.S. senator who represents the people of California.
"This isn’t just shocking, it’s a threat to the rule of law and democratic accountability," Gomez wrote on X. "Sen. Padilla is conducting oversight over the lawlessness of the Trump [administration] and the violations of the #RuleOfLaw. If this can happen to immigrant communities, it can happen to anyone."
The Congressional Hispanic Caucus called for an investigation into the incident.
In a post on X, White House Communications Director Steven Cheung thanked the media for showing what he called Padilla's "freak out."
"Shows the public what a complete lunatic Padilla is by rushing towards Secretary Noem and disturbing the informative press conference," he wrote.
Demonstrations have picked up across the U.S., with protests emerging in more than a dozen major cities. On Wednesday, police in Seattle used pepper spray to clear out protesters, and officers in Denver used smoke and pepper balls to control a crowd.
Police in riot gear — many on horseback — charged at a group of protesters Wednesday night in LA just before the start of the second night of the city’s downtown curfew. The officers struck some demonstrators with wooden rods and later fired crowd-control projectiles. After the curfew went into effect, a handful of arrests were made before the area cleared out.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.