California’s U.S. Sen. Alex Padilla was forcibly removed from a press conference held by Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and other Trump administration officials Thursday morning.
“I am Sen. Alex Padilla. I have questions for the secretary,” the Democratic senator said as he was being pushed out of the room by multiple people.
He is not currently detained, his office said later Thursday.
“Sen. 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.
“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.”
Noem continued to speak from the federal building on the westside of Los Angeles, several miles from downtown Los Angeles, where the large immigration protests have been taking place, saying federal immigration enforcement efforts are going to continue in the area.
“We are not going away,” Noem said. “We are staying here to liberate the city from the socialist and the burdensome leadership that this governor and this mayor have placed on this country and this city.”
Noem alleged that federal buildings were surrounded by more than 1,000 “violent rioters” on Friday night, adding that it took LAPD more than two hours to respond.
“So we are going to continue to operate with our federal partners and continue to keep asking the governor and the mayor for their support and their backup in these operations to make sure that all of our law enforcement officers are protected while they do their work,” she said.
“We’re going to protect American cities from lawlessness, and we’ll do what it takes to put American citizens first,” she said.
When asked by reporters, Noem said she stayed “close” to downtown when she got into town. She said she spent Thursday morning in various parts of the Los Angeles area while out “on operations” with law enforcement.
She was spotted by the New York Times accompanying federal immigration enforcement officers during a search at a home in Huntington Park earlier in the morning.
Meanwhile, California Democrats quickly came to Padilla’s defense.
Newsom said the senator is “one of the most decent people I know.”
“This is outrageous, dictatorial and shameful,” Newsom said. “Trump and his shock troops are out of control. This must end now.”
“This is totally unacceptable,” said Rep. Mike Levin, D-San Juan Capistrano. “Senator Alex Padilla has been my friend for over 20 years — a decent, honorable public servant and a proud son of the American dream. I stand with him fully as we demand accountability and transparency.”
Bass said, “This administration’s violent attacks on our city must end.”
Padilla, 52, became California’s first Latino U.S. senator in 2021, when he was appointed to the seat after Kamala Harris became the vice president.
Padilla is the son of Mexican immigrants who settled the family in a working-class San Fernando Valley neighborhood. His father rose from dishwasher to short-order cook while his mother cleaned houses.
Padilla found his way to MIT, where he went from engineer to L.A. City Council, and from there to the state legislature and from there to becoming the state’s elections chief, responsible for administering the 2020 election, the first to include mail-in ballots to all registered voters.
When later asked by reporters about Padilla, Noem said “he can reach out” to have a conversation. But she said she will “visit with the senator to find out what his concerns are.”
Noem also said she has left voicemails for Newsom, who she said has not returned her calls.
About a dozen journalists who showed up to cover the administration’s press conference were not allowed to enter Thursday morning.
Ryan Carter contributed to this report.
This is a breaking news story and will be updated.
