US senator forcibly removed from DHS press conference, handcuffed
U.S. Sen. Alex Padilla, D-Calif., is pushed out of the room as Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem holds a news conference regarding the recent protests in Los Angeles, Thursday, June 12, 2025. (David Crane/The Orange County Register via AP)
LOS ANGELES – Sen. Alex Padilla (D-California) was forcibly removed Thursday from a West Los Angeles news conference being held by US Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, and he was subsequently forced to a hallway floor and placed in handcuffs.
Noem was in the middle of her remarks at the news conference at the West Los Angeles federal building, discussing ongoing Immigration and Customs Enforcement operations in the city, when Padilla tried to interrupt her. At that point, federal officers in the room forcibly grabbed Padilla and pushed him out of a door and into a hallway. Padilla continued speaking loudly as he was removed from the room.
US Sen. Alex Padilla, D-Calif., is pushed out of the room as Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem holds a news conference regarding the recent protests in Los Angeles on Thursday, June 12, 2025. (AP Photo/Etienne Laurent)
According to video from the scene, Padilla was led into a hallway where three federal officers forced him to the ground on his stomach, and his hands were cuffed behind his back.
“If that’s what they do to a United States Senator with a question, imagine what they can do to any American that dares to speak up. We will hold this administration accountable,” Padilla posted on X.
If that’s what they do to a United States Senator with a question, imagine what they can do to any American that dares to speak up. We will hold this administration accountable. pic.twitter.com/ZMExvMmZfE
— Senator Alex Padilla (@SenAlexPadilla) June 12, 2025
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Asked about the incident, Noem said she was unaware that Padilla was going to be in attendance at her news conference, and said she had not received any request from him or his office to speak with her. She called Padilla’s actions at the news conference “inappropriate,” but said she planned to speak with him.
“I don’t even know the senator. He did not request a meeting with me or to speak with me,” Noem said. “So when I leave here I’ll have a conversation with him and find out really what his concerns were. I think everybody in America would agree that that was inappropriate.”
A short time later, Padilla emerged from the federal building and spoke to reporters, stressing that he was not arrested.
“Since the beginning of the year, but especially over the course of recent weeks, I and several of my colleagues have been asking the Department of Homeland Security for more information and more answers on their increasingly extreme immigration enforcement actions, and we’ve gotten little to no information in response to our inquiries,” Padilla said.
“And so I came to the press conference to hear what she had to say, to see if I could learn any new additional information. And at one point I had a question. … I was there peacefully. At one point I had a question, and so I began to ask a question. I was immediately forcibly removed from the room. I was forced to the ground, and I was handcuffed. I was not arrested. I was not 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 farmworkers, to cooks, to day laborers out in the Los Angeles community and throughout California and throughout the country. We will hold this administration accountable.”
Negative reaction to Padilla’s ejection from the news conference was quick from area Democrats, with Mayor Karen Bass posting on X, “What just happened to (Padilla) is absolutely abhorrent and outrageous. He is a sitting United States Senator. This administration’s violent attacks on our city must end.”
Gov. Gavin Newsom wrote on X that Padilla “is one of the most decent people I know. This is outrageous, dictatorial and shameful. (President Donald) Trump and his shock troops are out of control. This must end now. If they can handcuff a U.S. Senator for asking a question, imagine what they will do to you.”
Assemblyman Mark González (D-Los Angeles) issued a statement saying, “This isn’t just an insult to Senator Padilla, it’s an attack on the dignity of our democratic institutions and the people he represents.” (CNS)
