Sen. Alex Padilla forcibly removed after interrupting DHS press conference
LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- Sen. Alex Padilla of California was forcibly removed from a press conference with Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem at a federal building in Los Angeles Thursday morning.
While Noem was speaking, Padilla apparently tried to interrupt the press conference.
"I am Senator Alex Padilla - I have questions for the secretary," he could be heard saying in a video that captured the incident.
He took a few steps toward the podium when officers grabbed him and forcibly shoved him out of the room, as seen in the video. He can be heard shouting "hands off" as he was removed. Federal agents took him out into a hallway, where video showed the senator being forced to the ground and handcuffed.
Sen. Padilla was briefly detained and spoke to reporters outside the building about two hours after he was removed.
He said was there for a different meeting but decided to attend the press conference to get answers on the Department of Homeland Security's immigration enforcement actions.
He added he and his colleagues have gotten "little to no information in response to our inquiries" in recent weeks.
"At one point, I had a question... So I began to ask a question. I was almost immediately forcibly removed from the room. I was forced to the ground and I was handcuffed. I was not arrested. I was not detained," Padilla said.
"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 could only imagine what they're doing to farmworkers, to cooks, to day laborers out in the Los Angeles community and throughout California," Padilla said.
ABC News' Matt Rivers was in the room as it unfolded.
"What happened next was he identified himself. And even after he identified himself, those officers continued to quite violently shove him out of the room," he said.
Padilla was removed from the room by the Secret Service with the assistance of FBI uniformed police, senior law enforcement sources told ABC News.
Toward the end of the press conference, Noem returned to the podium and addressed Padilla's removal, saying he did not request a meeting with her beforehand.
"I think everybody in America will agree that that wasn't appropriate," said Noem.
Rivers confirmed to Eyewitness News that he saw Padilla and Noem in a room together as he was walking out of the building. They appeared to be talking, but did not hear what they might have been saying.
The senator's office released the following statement: "Senator 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. 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."
The FBI also released a statement that said: "During a press conference today held at the FBI's Los Angeles Field Office, Senator Alex Padilla was detained by members of the U.S. Secret Service assigned to Secretary Noem's detail when he became disruptive while formal remarks were being delivered. Secret Service Agents were assisted by FBI Police who are in Los Angeles at this time. Senator Padilla was not wearing his senate security pin; however, was subsequently positively identified and released."
State and local leaders took to social media after Padilla's removal.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom reacted to the incident in a post on X, calling it "outrageous, dictatorial, and shameful."
The Department of Homeland Security responded to the governor's social post, saying Padilla chose "political theatre" when he interrupted the press conference.
Newsom also posted a photo of Padilla being handcuffed while face down on the ground.
L.A. Mayor Karen Bass called Padilla's removal "absolutely abhorrent."
Republican Senate Majority Leader John Thune, of South Dakota, said he has spoken to Sen. Padilla and is working to "gather all the relevant information" after the Democrat was forcibly removed from Noem's press conference.
Thune said he has also spoken with Senate Sergeant at Arms Jennifer Hemingway, who is in charge of senators' security, and is trying to reach Noem but has not yet spoken with her.
"We want to get the full scope of what happened and do what we would do in any incident like this involving a senator and try to gather all the relevant information," Thune said.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
