U.S. Sen. Alex Padilla was removed from Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem’s news conference in Los Angeles on Thursday and handcuffed by officers as he tried to speak up about immigration raids that have led to protests in California and around the United States.
Noem’s security detail was captured on camera grabbing Padilla by his jacket and shoving him around the room in a video as he tried to speak during the immigration briefing. Padilla interrupted the news conference after Noem said that federal authorities were not going away, but planned to stay and increase operations to “liberate” the city from its “socialist” leadership.
After images and video of the scuffle ricocheted through the halls of Congress and social media, Padilla read a brief statement to reporters, saying he was in the federal building “awaiting a scheduled briefing from federal officials as my responsibility as a senator to provide oversight and accountability.”
U.S. Sen. Alex Padilla is pushed out of the room as Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem holds a news conference regarding the recent protests in Los Angeles on June 12, 2025.
AP Photo/Etienne Laurent
While Padilla was waiting for the briefing to begin, he learned that Noem was having a press conference a few doors down the hall, so he decided to attend.
The White House has accused Padilla of grandstanding.
What happened at the news conference
In an update on immigration enforcement in Los Angeles on Thursday, Noem said immigration authorities will continue to carry out arrests of people in the country illegally who have criminal records, and that protesters who engage in vandalism and violence will “face consequences.”
Padilla interrupted by shouting, “I’m Sen. Alex Padilla. I have questions for the secretary.”
Noem continued addressing reporters and law enforcement officers while Padilla was ejected from the room.
Scuffling with officers outside the room, Padilla can be heard shouting, “Hands off!” He was later seen on his knees and then pushed to the ground and handcuffed in a hallway, with several officers atop him.
While addressing the media outside of the building, Padilla, the son of immigrants from Mexico, said he and his colleagues had received little to no response from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to their questions in recent weeks, so he attended the briefing for more information.
“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,” Padilla said. “Let me emphasize, just like we emphasize the right for people to peacefully protest and to stand up for their First Amendment rights, for their fundamental rights, I was there peacefully.”
“At one point I had a question so I began to ask a question. I was almost immediately forcibly removed from the room,” Padilla stated. “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 … I can only imagine what they are doing to farmworkers, to cooks, to day labourers throughout the Los Angeles community, and throughout California and throughout the country. We will hold this administration accountable.”
In a statement, DHS said that Padilla “chose disrespectful political theater” and that Secret Service “thought he was an attacker.” The statement claimed that Padilla did not identify himself.
“Padilla was told repeatedly to back away and did not comply with officers’ repeated commands,” the statement said, adding that “officers acted appropriately.”
Noem told Fox LA afterward that she had a “great” conversation with Padilla after the scuffle, but called his approach “something that I don’t think was appropriate at all.”
“I think everybody in America would agree that that was inappropriate,” she added.
Noem said that during her 15-minute meeting with Padilla, they “probably disagree on 90 per cent of the topics” but they will continue to speak to each other.
“He and I exchanged phone numbers. We’re going to continue to talk and we’ll have conversations,” she said. “We may be as far apart on the political spectrum as possible but we’re all human beings and we all love this country, I hope.”
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“Padilla didn’t want answers; he wanted attention,” White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson said. “It’s telling that Democrats are more riled up about Padilla than they are about the violent riots and assaults on law enforcement in LA.”
Padilla disputes the Trump administration’s account of events
During an interview with MSNBC, Padilla disputed the White House’s account of events that took place on June 12.
Padilla said he was removed while demanding answers about U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration’s “increasingly extreme immigration enforcement actions.”
He called Noem’s description of the events “ridiculous” after she claimed that he “started lunging towards the podium, interrupting me and elevating his voice.”
“It’s a lie but par for the course for this administration,” Padilla began.
“They said I wasn’t wearing my pin. My polo says ‘United States Senate,’” Padilla said. “There was no threat. There was no lunging. I raised my voice to ask a question, and it took what, maybe, half a second before multiple agents were on me.”
He called the degree of force used by the FBI agents against him “excessive” and an “overreaction.”
He said that he complied with the agents’ orders because of the lessons he learned from growing up in San Fernando Valley.
“Where I grew up, you know what happens if you don’t obey law enforcement. So I began to go on my knees to the extent that they would let me,” Padilla said. “I kept repeatedly asking them, ‘Why am I being detained?’ No answer. ‘Why am I being detained?’ No answer. ‘Why am I being detained?’ No answer.”
As for his meeting with Noem, Padilla said that the agents removed his handcuffs and he was invited to meet with her for “a few minutes.”
“You’d think she might have started the meeting with an apology for what happened? Of course not,” Padilla said.
Padilla noted that he is OK, but he hopes others feel the outrage he does.
“If this can happen to a United States senator for having the audacity to ask a question for the secretary of homeland security … just image what could happen to anybody in the country for that matter,” he said.
Padilla has been very vocal about Trump and his deportation agenda.
“Trump isn’t targeting criminals in his mass deportation agenda, he is terrorizing communities, breaking apart families and putting American citizens in harm’s way,” Padilla said of recent federal immigration raids in Los Angeles in a social media post.
What others are saying
Many of Padilla’s colleagues shared their outrage after he was removed from the cabinet secretary’s news conference and many demanded an immediate investigation into the interaction.
Calif. Gov. Gavin Newsom called Padilla’s removal “outrageous” in a social media post.
“This is outrageous, dictatorial, and shameful. Trump and his shock troops are out of control,” he said. “This must end now.”
“If they can handcuff a U.S. Senator for asking a question, imagine what they will do to you,” Newsom added.
Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer said what he saw “sickened my stomach.”
“We need immediate answers to what the hell went on,” the New York senator said from the Senate floor. “It’s despicable, it’s disgusting, it’s so un-American.”
Kamala Harris wrote in a social media post Thursday that Padilla “was representing the millions of Californians who are demanding answers to this administration’s actions in Southern California.” She called his forceful removal “a shameful and stunning abuse of power.”
Democratic senators quickly gathered in the chamber, denouncing the treatment of their colleague and urged Americans to understand what was happening.
Sen. Elizabeth Warren said Trump is making this country “look more and more like a fascist state.”
“Will any Republican senator speak up for our democracy?” Warren pleaded.
Sen. Tina Smith called on Noem to resign, saying there was no justification for Padilla’s treatment and that the Trump administration needed to be held accountable.
House Speaker Mike Johnson accused Padilla of “charging” Noem and indicated that the behaviour “rises to the level of a censure.”
“My view is it was wildly inappropriate,” Johnson told reporters outside the House chamber as people walking past shouted over him, “That’s a lie!”
“A sitting member of Congress should not act like that,” Johnson said, loudly speaking over reporters’ questions. “It’s beneath a member of Congress. It’s beneath the U.S. senator.”
Senate Republican leader John Thune said he had spoken to Padilla and is trying to reach Noem but hasn’t yet connected 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,” the South Dakota senator said.
House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries said what happened to Padilla “was un-American” and those involved must be held accountable.
“This is not going to end until there is accountability and until the Trump administration changes its behaviour,” Jeffries added.
Connecticut Sen. Richard Blumenthal called the video “utterly revolting” and said there should be consequences.
“If they can do this kind of violent reprisal against a United States senator just for showing up at a press conference, it can happen anywhere,” Blumenthal said.
Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass called Padilla’s removal “abhorrent and outrageous.”
“He is a sitting United States Senator. This administration’s violent attacks on our city must end.”
Leaders from the League of United Latin American Citizens expressed their outrage and condemned Padilla’s treatment.
“What happened to Senator Alex Padilla is nothing less than an outrageous abuse of power and a direct assault on our democracy,” Roman Palomares, LULAC national president, said in a statement. “That a Latino U.S. Senator was physically removed from a public press event simply because he dared to ask tough questions of a federal cabinet official is unacceptable and will not be silently tolerated in our country.”
— With files from The Associated Press