Padilla tears up recounting incident at Noem event, says escorts ‘stood by silently'
Sen. Alex Padilla (D-Calif.) teared up during a Tuesday speech on the Senate floor while recounting being 'physically' and 'aggressively forced out' of last week's Department of Homeland Security (DHS) press conference in Los Angeles.
The Democratic lawmaker said his federal escorts 'stood by silently' as he was wrestled to the ground for interrupting DHS Secretary Kristi Noem on Thursday.
'I was physically and aggressively forced out of the room, even as I repeatedly announced I was a United States senator and I had a question for the secretary. Even as the National Guardsman and the FBI agent who served as my escorts and brought me into that press briefing room stood silently, knowing full well who I was,' Padilla said on the floor.
He said agents forced him to the ground flat on his chest, while his thoughts raced.
'I pray you never have a moment like this,' Padilla said, with a choked voice, as he referenced Noem.
'In that moment, a lot of questions came to mind. First of all, 'Where are they taking me, because I know I'm not just being escorted out of the building? Am I being arrested here?'' he asked.
'And, 'What will a city already on edge from being militarized think when they see their United States senator handcuffed just for trying to ask a question?''
Noem said Padilla's behavior at the press conference 'wasn't appropriate.' White House officials backed his detainment.
'I think everybody in America would agree that that wasn't appropriate. That if you wanted to have a civil discussion, especially as a leader, a public official, that you would reach out and try to have a conversation,' Noem told reporters during the press conference.
The White House shared a statement defending the senator's removal.
'Padilla didn't want answers; he wanted attention. Padilla embarrassed himself and his constituents with this immature, theater-kid stunt — but it's telling that Democrats are more riled up about Padilla than they are about the violent riots and assaults on law enforcement in LA,' White House spokesperson Abigail Jackson told The Hill after the incident.
Even some Republican lawmakers have questioned Padilla's treatment, however.
'I've seen that one clip. It's horrible. It is — it is shocking at every level. It's not the America I know,' Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) said last week, according to multiple news outlets.
President Trump remains in control of 7,000 California's National Guard members and hundreds of Marines deployed to Los Angeles to quell protests against the administration's recent immigration enforcement efforts. The Trump administration won back that control temporarily by appealing a lawsuit filed by California officials that contested the federal action.
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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