Senator Alex Padilla (D-CA) was forcibly removed from a Department of Homeland Security (DHS) press conference on Thursday after disrupting the briefing in an attempt to question DHS Secretary Kristi Noem.

Padilla insists he did nothing wrong when he decided to join Noem’s press conference, saying, “I was there peacefully. At one point, I had a question, and 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.”

Noem countered Padilla’s version of events, saying, “We were conducting a press conference to update everyone on the enforcement actions that are ongoing to bring people bring peace to the city of Los Angeles, and this man burst into the room, started lunging towards the podium, interrupting me and elevating his voice, and was stopped, did not identify himself, and was removed from the room.”

Padilla was not wearing a pin to identify him as an attending dignitary, though he maintained that his polo shirt which read “United States Senate” should have indicated to security agents that he was not a threat.

The Secret Service later said that, after interviewing Padilla, they determined that he had no intention to harm Noem and later arranged a short meeting between Noem and Padilla.

Democrats had strong condemnation for the Senator’s removal from the press conference while Republicans largely criticized Padilla for what White House spokesperson Abigail Jackson called an “immature theater-kid stunt.”

The incident comes as a string of Democratic officials have found themselves in handcuffs and even arrested and charged for interfering with federal immigration enforcement agents.