Latest news with #Padilla
Yahoo
a day ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
‘It's time to wake up': Padilla recounts being handcuffed at Noem briefing in emotional speech
Alex Padilla took to the Senate floor on Tuesday to deliver a deeply personal speech, formally entering into the congressional record his account of being restrained and forcibly removed as he attempted to ask a question at a press conference held by the homeland security secretary, Kristi Noem, in Los Angeles last week. In emotional remarks, Padilla described the encounter that he hoped would serve as a 'wake-up call' for Americans – a warning, he said, of how quickly democratic norms can slip away when dissent is silenced and power is unchecked. 'If that is what the administration is willing to do to a United States senator for having the [audacity] to simply ask a question,' Padilla said, 'imagine what they'll do to any American who dares to speak up.' In his floor speech, Padilla said he was in Los Angeles to conduct congressional oversight of the administration's escalating immigration operations in the city. That morning, he was at the federal building for a scheduled briefing with US northern command's Gen Gregory Guillot related to the president's order to deploy US marines to the city in response to protests against immigration raids that left Latino communities shaken and afraid. Related: Senator Alex Padilla handcuffed and forcibly removed from Kristi Noem's LA press conference Upon his arrival, Padilla said that he was met at the building's entrance by a national guardsman and an FBI agent. He was then escorted through a security screening and into the conference room where the briefing was set to take place. When he learned that Noem was holding a press conference 'literally down the hall' – and that it was the reason his own briefing was delayed – Padilla said he asked to attend. He and his colleagues had numerous outstanding information requests regarding the department's immigration enforcement tactics, and he thought he would listen in to see if the secretary said anything that might 'help us make sense of what was happening'. 'I didn't just stand up and go – I asked,' he said. According to Padilla, the guardsman and FBI agent then 'escorted' him into the room where Noem was delivering remarks to reporters. 'They opened the door for me. They accompanied me into the press briefing room, and they stood next to me as I stood there for a while listening,' he said. When Noem declared that the federal law enforcement and military personnel would 'liberate' Los Angeles from its Democratic governor and mayor – what the senator denounced as an 'un-American mission statement' – he said he could no longer remain silent. 'I was compelled, both as a senator and as an American, to speak up,' Padilla said. 'But before I could even get out my question, 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, and even as the national guardsman and the FBI agent who served as my escorts brought me into that press briefing room, stood by silently, knowing full well who I was.' Padilla recalled being dragged into a hallway and forced on to the ground, Padilla recalled, his voice catching as he described being brought to his knees and then pressed chest-first against the floor. 'I was handcuffed and marched down a hallway repeatedly asking, 'Why am I being detained?' Not once did they tell me why?' he said. 'I pray you never have a moment like this.' As it was happening, Padilla said his thoughts turned to his family: 'What will my wife think? What will our boys think?' And then to his constituents – those in a city already on edge, militarized against the wishes of the governor and local enforcement – how would they react when they saw the images of their US senator – the first Latino elected to the chamber from California – in handcuffs. When asked about Padilla's removal during the press conference, Noem said she didn't recognize the two-term senator and claimed he hadn't requested a meeting. According to the DHS, Noem and Padilla met for for 15 minutes following the incident. The FBI has stated that its agents believed Padilla was an attacker and responded appropriately, while faulting the senator for not wearing a pin identifying him as a member of Congress. The Guardian's requests for comment from the Department of Homeland Security, the Department of Defense, the national guard and the Secret Service were not immediately returned. In a statement on Tuesday, the White House dismissed Padilla's floor speech as a 'temper tantrum'. 'Alex 'Pay Attention to Me' Padilla is bouncing from one desperate ploy for attention to the next,' said a White House spokesperson, Abigail Jackson, adding: 'Whether or not Democrats like it, the American people support President Trump's agenda to deport illegal aliens.' But Padilla, who noted he has never had a reputation as a 'flame-thrower', challenged his colleagues in both parties to consider what the episode revealed about the state of American democracy. 'If you watched what unfolded last week and thought what happened is just about one politician and one press conference, you're missing the point,' he said. Democrats and some Republicans condemned the incident. But administration officials – and many Republicans – blamed Padilla, with the House speaker, Mike Johnson, suggesting he should be censured for his actions. Padilla accused Trump of being a 'tyrant' who had ordered national guard troops and US marines into Los Angeles to 'justify his undemocratic crackdowns and his authoritarian power grabs'. He said Trump was surrounded by 'yes men' and a pliant Congress who refused to rein in the president as he tries everything to 'test the boundaries of his power'. Padilla, the 'proud' son of Mexican immigrants, warned that what is happening in his state could spread nationwide. 'I refuse to let immigrants be political pawns on his path towards fascism,' he said. He described the situation in California as a 'test case' for what could happen to 'any American anywhere in the country'. As Padilla spoke in Washington, images emerged from New York where Brad Lander, the city's comptroller and a candidate for mayor, had been arrested by masked federal agents as he visited an immigration court. 'It's time to wake up,' Padilla said, urging Americans to continue to peacefully protest against the administration. 'If this administration is this afraid of just one senator with a question … imagine what the voices of tens of millions of Americans peacefully protesting can do.' The Democrats in the chamber erupted in applause. • This article was amended on 18 June 2025 to correct a quote from Senator Alex Padilla, who referred to the prospect of 'tens of millions' of protesters, not 'billions'.
Time Magazine
2 days ago
- Politics
- Time Magazine
The U.S. Elected Officials Who Have Been Arrested or Approached by Authorities While Protesting Trump's Immigration Crackdown
Local officials and members of Congress have been handcuffed, slammed to the ground, and detained by law enforcement while objecting to the Trump Administration's policies in multiple high-profile confrontations as mass deportations are carried out across the country. New York City comptroller and mayoral candidate Brad Lander became the latest elected official to be detained amid protests over the Administration's crackdown when he was arrested by Immigrations Customs Enforcement (ICE) at a Manhattan courthouse on Tuesday. Lander, who said he has been attending immigration court hearings in Manhattan for the past three weeks, was seen in a crowded hallway holding on to a man who was being detained by ICE. 'I will let go when you show me the judicial warrant,' Lander can be heard saying in video of the incident. 'You don't have the authority to arrest U.S. citizens asking for a judicial warrant.' At least four other officials have been arrested or confronted by authorities after speaking out against the Administration's immigration policies in recent weeks. Here's what you should know about each of them. Sen. Alex Padilla California Sen. Alex Padilla was slammed to the ground and handcuffed after he disrupted a press conference being held by Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem on June 12. The tense interaction came after Noem said DHS officials would continue their operations in Los Angeles—the site of multi-day protests over ICE raids and the Administration's broader immigration stance—to 'liberate this city from the socialist and burdensome leadership that this governor and this mayor have placed into this city.' Trump sent National Guard members and Marines to the city to quell the demonstrations against California Gov. Gavin Newsom's wishes, igniting widespread backlash. Video of the incident shows Padilla attempting to ask Noem a question before two men push him back. Padilla, who identified himself as a Senator, asked agents to keep their 'hands off' as they forcibly removed him from the room. 'If that is what the Administration is willing to do to a United States Senator for having the [audacity] to simply ask a question, imagine what they'll do to any American who dares to speak up,' Padilla said in a speech on the Senate floor on Tuesday. The California Senator, who is the son of Mexican immigrants, called Trump a 'tyrant' who continues to 'test the boundaries of his power.' Many politicians have denounced Padilla's removal from the press conference. Former Vice President Kamala Harris called the incident a 'shameful and stunning abuse of power' in a post on X. Brad Lander Lander, who has been the New York City Comptroller since 2022 and is currently running for mayor, was arrested on Tuesday while accompanying a man he identified as Edgardo out of immigration court. When authorities sought to detain Edgardo, Lander repeatedly asked to see a judicial warrant. 'You don't have the authority to arrest U.S. citizens,' Lander told ICE agents, before he was handcuffed and taken into custody himself. Lander was released later that afternoon after New York Gov. Kathy Hochul condemned the arrest and advocated for his release. 'This is a sorry day for New York and our country,' Hochul said in a press conference following Lander's release. Asked about the 'trend' of elected officials being detained over immigration issues while speaking with Democracy Now! after his release, the comptroller said the Trump Administration 'wreak havoc.' 'They're trying … to 'liberate' Democratic cities from their duly elected officials. This is part of what authoritarians do: strike fear into immigrant families and communities and try to undermine the rule of law and basic democracy by stoking conflict,' Lander said. 'Our challenge is to find a way to stand up for the rule of law, for due process, for people's rights, and to do it in a way that is nonviolent and insistent, demands it, but also doesn't help them escalate conflict.' On Wednesday, Lander called out the Trump Administration for what he called immigration escalation 'Gestapo tactics' while speaking with MSNBC. Several other Democrats also came to Lander's defense on social media and called for his release. New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez called the arrest 'political intimidation,' while Sen. Padilla said he was 'not shocked' by the action. Ras Baraka Ras Baraka, the Mayor of Newark, was arrested after traveling on May 9 to inspect Delaney Hall, a privately run federal immigration detention center that he accused in March of violating safety protocols. Baraka, who is running for governor, and three members of New Jersey's congressional delegation—Reps. Robert Menendez, LaMonica McIver, and Bonnie Watson Coleman— tried to enter the facility. ICE agents arrested Baraka on trespassing charges. Homeland Security officials accused the lawmakers of 'storming the gate' and trespassing into the detention facility, posting a video of the arrest on X and asking viewers to 'check the tape.' Rep. McIver and other members of Congress, though, argued that they were just trying to perform their duties as elected officials. 'The way we were treated at Delaney Hall is almost unbelievable. ICE shoved me, manhandled @repbonnie, and arrested @rasjbaraka,' McIver posted on X. 'They disrespected us and tried to stop us from conducting the oversight we're elected to do. But we'll never back down in our fight for what is right.' Baraka himself posted the moment that he was escorted into Delaney Hall. 'Nobody was kicking or shoving like the coverage suggests. We were invited in.' The mayor was released hours after being detained. He sued New Jersey's top federal prosecutor, interim U.S. Attorney for New Jersey Alina Habba, earlier this month over his arrest, arguing that the Trump-appointed attorney had pursued the case out of political spite and seeking damages for 'false arrest and malicious prosecution.' LaMonica McIver In the wake of the same incident, McIver was indicted by the Department of Justice on June 9 for allegedly "impeding and interfering with federal officers' during Baraka's arrest, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office. The indictment includes three counts of "assaulting, resisting, impeding and interfering" with federal officers—charges that could include a prison sentence if McIver is convicted. In a statement after the indictment was announced, McIver called the proceedings a 'a brazen attempt at political intimidation.' 'This indictment is no more justified than the original charges, and is an effort by Trump's administration to dodge accountability for the chaos ICE caused and scare me out of doing the work I was elected to do,' McIver said. 'But it won't work—I will not be intimidated. The facts are on our side, I will be entering a plea of not guilty, I'm grateful for the support of my community, and I look forward to my day in court.' Hannah Dugan Milwaukee County Circuit Court Judge Hannah Dugan became the first of these elected officials to be detained when she was arrested on April 25 by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) on charges of concealing a defendant to prevent his arrest by ICE. The indictment against Dugan alleges that she allowed for the defendant, Eduardo Flores-Ruiz, to exit through a backroom of the courthouse. 'Judge Dugan intentionally misdirected ICE agents away from this criminal illegal alien to obstruct the arrest and try to help him evade arrest,' the Department of Homeland Security said in a press release. 'Thankfully, our FBI partners chased down this illegal alien, arrested him and removed him from American communities.' FBI director Kash Patel alleged in an X post the day of Dugan's arrest that she 'misdirected' agents away from Ruiz and 'created increased danger to the public'— and then deleted the post. After the arrest, Padilla came out in support of Dugan. 'These attacks on our justice system and the judges that uphold it do nothing but tear down the very foundations of what is most important to our country — those unalienable rights,' he said in a statement. More than 130 retired federal judges have also come to Dugan's support, penning a letter arguing that she should not be prosecuted since 'she is entitled to absolute immunity for her official acts.' Dugan will now face charges and is awaiting trial, which was originally set to begin in July but has since been postponed.
The Hill
2 days ago
- Politics
- The Hill
GOP senator criticizes Padilla being wrestled to floor
North Carolina Sen. Thom Tillis (R) on Wednesday criticized the forceful removal of Sen. Alex Padilla (D-Calif.) from a Department of Homeland Security (DHS) press conference last week, while also critiquing his 'inappropriate' behavior. Tillis said the incident, which followed a handful of escalations with Democratic lawmakers, was 'disgusting' during a speech on the floor. 'There were clearly people in that building that knew he was a U.S. senator. So the minute he was removed from that situation in that briefing room, then they should have treated him with respect and allowed him to disperse,' Tillis said Wednesday. 'It was disgusting to me to see somebody wrestle to the floor, anybody, but particularly a U.S. senator that's in a federal building,' he added. Padilla was escorted to the news conference by federal agents and was handcuffed after trying to ask a question during DHS Secretary Kristi Noem's remarks. 'We have daily, weekly press conference out here with leadership. We've got a press room on the third floor. I wonder if we're actually saying it's OK for me to run out here and interrupt Sen. Schumer while he's giving his opening statements to a presser to ask him a question,' Tillis said, referring to Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.). 'I think that that's inappropriate. … Sen. Padilla should have found a better way to elevate his concerns to the secretary of Homeland Security rather than going in there and having that dust-up,' he added. Padilla has defended his actions and said the Thursday incident makes him fear for the treatment of immigrants. 'I will say this: If this is how this administration responds to a senator with a question, I can only imagine what they're doing to farmworkers, to cooks, to day laborers out in the Los Angeles community and throughout California and throughout the country,' the California lawmaker said during a separate press conference last week. Tillis on Wednesday cautioned elected officials to think twice before handling concerns with the policies of federal law enforcement. 'I would just say to those who are tempted now to think that they can act like they're off the hinge and they should interrupt a press conference or threaten police officials to arrest them, to think twice. Step up and be leaders. If you've got a point, don't go trying to trend on social media by getting in somebody's face,' Tillis said. 'Make a point. You want to make a point, that's what you do. You want to make a difference, then come to the Senate floor and try to figure out how to get your policies through,' he added. 'That's how this place should work.'
The Hill
2 days ago
- Politics
- The Hill
Padilla: Republicans can't deny ‘No Kings' protest numbers
Sen. Alex Padilla (D-Calif.) said Tuesday that Republicans cannot deny the numbers of the recent 'No Kings' protests. 'One of the best things that has happened over the last several days is that millions of people who came out across the country on Saturday, by and large, very, very peaceful, but you can't deny the numbers,' Padilla said on MSNBC's 'The Weeknight' 'My colleagues on the other side of the aisle cannot deny the numbers,' he added. The No Kings organization's 'national day of action' against the Trump administration turned out an estimated five million protesters in over 2,000 cities and towns across the U.S. The marches took place as a parade celebrating the Army took place in the nation's capital on President Trump's birthday. On Thursday, Trump was asked to respond to the 'No Kings' demonstrations, to which he replied that he doesn't 'feel like a king; I have to go through hell to get stuff approved.' Padilla's comments follow his forcible removal and handcuffing at a news conference held by Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem last week, which flared tempers among Democrats. Sen. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) on Sunday called Padilla's handcuffing 'atrocious' on NBC's 'Meet the Press.' 'To see him mistreated that way and tackled to the ground and shackled that way and in the midst of what we're seeing more broadly in Los Angeles is just atrocious,' Schiff said Sunday. The White House has argued that Padilla was looking for the confrontation and did not adequately indicate he was a U.S. senator, though the Californian identified himself as he was being detained.
The Hill
2 days ago
- The Hill
7 Californians charged in ‘largest jewelry heist in US history,' DOJ says
(KTLA) – Seven people have been identified as the thieves who targeted a Brinks truck in Southern California three years ago, pulling off what officials say is 'the largest jewelry heist in U.S. history.' The July 2022 heist resulted in the theft of 'approximately $100 million worth of gold, diamonds, rubies, emeralds, and luxury watches,' the U.S. Department of Justice said in a news release. The jewelry was being transported from a jewelry show in San Mateo, California, to another in Pasadena, according to the DOJ. The theft occurred when the truck had stopped at a rest stop in Lebec, in Kern County, just north of Los Angeles County. Some of the stolen jewelry was recovered by authorities earlier this month, the DOJ said. Seven people have been charged with with two counts of conspiracy to commit theft from interstate and foreign shipment and theft from interstate and foreign shipment, the DOJ said: Of those seven, five people — Mestanza, Padilla, Lugo, Valencia and Alban — also face charges of inference with commerce by robbery and two counts of conspiracy to interfere with commerce by robbery, as well as 'additional counts of theft from interstate and foreign shipment.' In addition to the 2022 theft at the Lebec rest stop, 'Mestanza, Padilla, Lugo, and Valencia are also alleged to have stolen $240,573 worth of Samsung electronics from an interstate cargo shipment in Ontario on March 2, 2022,' prosecutors said. 'Those same defendants, and Alban, allegedly then robbed a box truck driver of $57,377 worth of Apple AirTags,' the DOJ said. 'One of the robbers brandished a knife and threatened the driver.' Federal officials also alleged the crew tried similar break-ins on trucks in Fontana. If convicted the suspects face a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison for each theft charge, five for each conspiracy charge and 20 for each robbery charge.
