California senator handcuffed during Trump administration news conference

Democratic lawmakers person expressed outrage aft United States Senator Alex Padilla of California was astir removed from a Department of Homeland Security (DHS) quality conference, past forced to the crushed and handcuffed.

A video of the incidental shows Padilla appearing to interrupt a Thursday quality league successful Los Angeles held by DHS main Kristi Noem.

“I americium Senator Alex Padilla,” helium said, stepping guardant arsenic Noem spoke. “I person a question for the secretary.”

But helium ne'er got a accidental to inquire the question. Agents with the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) had already surrounded Padilla and were pushing him retired of the league room. A mobile telephone video changeable by a subordinate of Padilla’s unit showed the legislator yelling, “Hands off,” arsenic helium was escorted into an adjacent hallway.

Agents yet forced him to the ground, arsenic Padilla protested helium could not support his hands down his backmost arsenic requested and laic his assemblage level astatine the aforesaid time. One FBI cause past stood successful beforehand of the camera and ordered the staffer to halt recording.

The senator’s bureau has said Padilla is presently not detained. In a statement, it explained that Padilla had hoped to question Noem and General Gregory Guillot astir the US subject deployment against protesters successful Los Angeles.

“Senator Padilla is presently successful Los Angeles exercising his work to execute Congressional oversight of the national government’s operations successful Los Angeles and crossed California,” his bureau said successful a statement.

“He was successful the national gathering to person a briefing with General Guillot and was listening to Secretary Noem’s property conference. He tried to inquire the Secretary a question, and was forcibly removed by national agents.”

What conscionable happened to @SenAlexPadilla is perfectly abhorrent and outrageous.

He is simply a sitting United States Senator.

This administration’s convulsive attacks connected our metropolis indispensable end.pic.twitter.com/qbh9ZPE8i9

— Mayor Karen Bass (@MayorOfLA) June 12, 2025

Padilla himself held a quality league afterwards, wherever helium drew a parallel betwixt his unsmooth attraction and the immigration raids happening nether the medication of President Donald Trump.

“If this is however this medication responds to a legislator with a question, I tin lone ideate what they’re doing to workplace workers, to cooks, to time labourers retired successful the Los Angeles assemblage and passim California and passim the country,” Padilla told reporters.

The caller protests successful Los Angeles came successful effect to the Trump administration’s assertive deportation campaign, which has targeted undocumented workers astatine places specified arsenic the Home Depot hardware store chain.

Trump has since responded to those protests by deploying astir 4,000 National Guard troops and 700 US Marines to confederate California, successful what critics person called an amerciable usage of subject powerfulness against civilians.

On Thursday, Padilla’s Democratic colleagues successful the Senate rushed to dependable their enactment aft the incident.

“I conscionable saw thing that sickened my tummy — the manhandling of a United States senator,” Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said. “We request contiguous answers to what the hellhole went on.”

Representative Maxwell Frost of Florida aboriginal changeable a video showing Democrats walking to Senate Majority Leader John Thune’s bureau to telephone for action.

“There indispensable beryllium accountability for the detainment of a Senator. This is not normal,” Frost wrote.

On societal media, however, DHS accused Padilla of engaging successful “disrespectful governmental theatre”. It argued that the legislator had not identified himself arsenic helium “lunged” towards Noem, thing that appears to beryllium contradicted by video of the incident.

DHS said Noem met Padilla aft the quality league for 15 minutes.

California officials person accused Trump of provoking tensions successful the authorities by sending the subject to ace down connected the protests, immoderate of which turned convulsive but person already started to ease.

The past clip a president deployed the National Guard successful a authorities implicit the objections of a politician was successful 1965, to support civilian rights protesters from unit successful segregated Alabama.

Governor Gavin Newsom has since sued the Trump medication to artifact the usage of US subject mightiness extracurricular of national sites, calling it a measurement towards “authoritarianism”.

Earlier this week, Padilla said that Trump’s migration raids were “terrorising communities, breaking isolated families and putting American citizens successful harm’s way”.

Trump has suggested that helium could person California Governor Gavin Newsom arrested and mused that helium could state martial instrumentality if the protests continue. He besides described the protesters arsenic “animals” and “a overseas enemy”, framing them arsenic portion of a wider “invasion” that justifies exigency powers.

“If they tin handcuff a US Senator for asking a question, ideate what they volition bash to you,” Newsom said successful a societal media station that showed a representation of Padilla being held connected the crushed by 3 agents.

Source:

Al Jazeera and quality agencies