California Sen. Alex Padilla handcuffed at Noem information convention in LA

[ad_1] LOS ANGELES — The Trump administration defended its handcuffing of Sen. Alex Padilla on Thursday, saying the Secret Service believed he was an attacker throughout a information convention with Homeland Safety Secretary Kristi Noem.

DHS spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin accused Padilla of "disrespectful political theater" and mentioned officers "acted appropriately" in a press release following the incident. Noem and Padilla met for quarter-hour after the press convention, she mentioned.

The forcible elimination and handcuffing of the California senator simply as he was figuring out himself marked the most recent escalation between the Trump administration and Democrats over immigration, with members of Padilla’s get together roundly denouncing the encounter.

Video offered by Padilla’s workplace reveals the senator approaching the lectern as Noem was talking. He was stopped and shoved again by a number of males.

“I’m Senator Alex Padilla. I've questions for the secretary,” he mentioned. He tried to talk additional as he was forcibly eliminated into an adjoining room, the place he yelled “Palms off!”

The video reveals Padilla being compelled to the bottom and his arms handcuffed behind his again.

The outburst got here as Noem was touting federal legislation enforcement’s immigration crackdown in Los Angeles, highlighting people with violent legal data who have been caught within the raids. Earlier within the week, Noem had described Los Angeles as a “metropolis of criminals” whereas slamming the immigration protests.

Chatting with the media not lengthy after the confrontation, Padilla mentioned he was within the federal constructing for a scheduled briefing when he determined to drop by Noem’s information convention down the corridor. He mentioned he started to ask the secretary a query when he was “forcibly eliminated” from the room, compelled to the bottom and handcuffed.

“If that is how this administration responds to a senator with a query … you'll be able to solely think about what they’re doing to farmworkers, to cooks, to day laborers,” Padilla mentioned. “We are going to maintain this administration accountable.”

In Washington, Democratic senators walked out of their remaining vote of the day visibly agitated by the video.

“As this occasion with Senator Padilla reveals, the Republicans evidently embrace utilizing fists,” Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts informed POLITICO. “Violence is rarely the reply. … It’s wanting increasingly like a fascist state on the market every single day.”

“It’s very disturbing,” Sen. Raphael Warnock of Georgia informed POLITICO. “We want solutions.”

Sen. Adam Schiff of California mentioned he was “disgusted by what I noticed,” including that Padilla has “each proper to ask questions.”

He mentioned, “Kristi Noem ought to by no means have been appointed to that workplace. She ought to resign from that workplace.” He referred to as for an investigation into the conduct of the officers who detained Padilla.

The confrontation earned a swift rebuke from different fellow Californians in Congress, who shortly gathered on the Capitol steps to protest Padilla’s therapy.

“Forcibly eradicating a United States Senator from a press convention is disgraceful,” Rep. Pete Aguilar, the third-ranking Democrat within the Home, mentioned on X. “This administration’s chaos and corruption is uncontrolled.”

Gov. Gavin Newsom referred to as the therapy of Padilla “outrageous, dictatorial, and shameful” in a social media publish shortly after the incident.

“Trump and his shock troops are uncontrolled,” he wrote.

Requested concerning the confrontation on the information convention, Noem mentioned, “I will go to with the senator and discover out, actually, what his issues are and what we are able to do.”

In the meantime, Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina steered Padilla obtained what he was searching for out of the alternate.

“He obtained what he needed, he’s on TV,” Graham mentioned.

He mentioned, “What he should be doing, for my part, is ensuring that we now have rational immigration coverage. And Senator Padilla, who's a pleasant man, sat on the sidelines for 4 years, watched the border fully be blown aside. Folks are available by the hundreds of thousands, and it is created issues for our nation.”

Senate Majority Chief John Thune mentioned he had seen video of the incident however needed “to get the information and discover out precisely what occurred earlier than we make any feedback about it."