Donald Trump‘s administration continued its flirtation with authoritarianism Thursday as a Democratic senator attending Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem’s press conference was dragged from the room and handcuffed.
Noem, responding on X, said the California senator “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. @SecretService thought he was an attacker and officers acted appropriately.”
But CNN host Abby Phillip, posting on X, said a closer inspection of the video showed the DHS’ account isn’t supported by the facts.
“As you can see in the video, Sen. Padilla clearly identifies himself,” Phillip said. “DHS still wrote this post falsely claiming that he did not.”
Padilla told reporters he attended Noem’s Los Angeles presser “as part of my responsibility as a senator to provide oversight and accountability.
“Over the course of several weeks several of my colleagues have been asking the Department of Homeland Security for more information…and we’ve gotten little to no information in response to our inquiries,” he said.
“I was there peacefully. At one point, I had a question, and so I began to ask a question,” Padilla continued. “I was almost immediately forcibly removed from the room, I was forced to the ground, and I was handcuffed.
He insisted he was neither arrested nor detained.
“I will say this: if this is how this administration responds to a senator with a question. If this is how the Department of Homeland Security responds to a senator with a question, you can only imagine what they’re doing to farm workers, to cooks, to day laborers out in the Los Angeles community, throughout California and throughout the country,” he concluded.
Democrats were irate about the treatment of Padilla.
“What just happened to @SenAlexPadilla is absolutely abhorrent and outrageous,” wrote Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass. “He is a sitting United States Senator. This administration’s violent attacks on our city must end.”
Former Vice President Kamala Harris also chimed in, saying, “United States Senator Alex Padilla was representing the millions of Californians who are demanding answers to this Administration’s actions in Southern California. This is a shameful and stunning abuse of power.”
But not everyone thought Padilla’s arrest was out of bounds. MAGA voters cheered the arrest, with one Trump supporter writing on X, “Democrats are no longer above the law I VOTED FOR THIS!”
“We are just following Democrats’ orders at this point,” wrote another. “Nobody is above the law.”
He didn’t say what law Padilla broke.
According to DHS, Noem, who famously defined habeas corpus as a presidential authority to deport individuals, met with Padilla after the incident. Details about their 15-minute meeting were not disclosed.
