Democrats on Capitol Hill were furious Thursday after Sen. Alex Padilla (D-Calif.) was forcibly removed and handcuffed after trying to question Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem at a press conference in Los Angeles.
After Padilla identified himself by his name and title, he pushed toward the front of a conference room trying to ask a question. He was then grabbed by agents who pushed him backward, shoved him through a set of double doors, and forced him onto the ground and handcuffed him.
Video of the confrontation emerged as the Senate was concluding work for the day, shocking members. More than a dozen immediately went to the floor to defend Padilla and speak out against what they argued was unjust and unnecessary.
On the other side of the building, California Democrats alongside other members of the party descended the Capitol steps as a group to condemn what many called the “manhandling” of their colleague. Members of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus and other House Democrats also marched to Speaker Mike Johnson’s (R-La.) office in a show of outrage.
“He had every right as a member of the United States Senate to talk and be at an event that was open to the public and the press. Instead, he was manhandled by law enforcement, forced to the ground and handcuffed. This is an outrage,” Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-Calif.) said with dozens of Democrats gathered behind her.
“And I’ll tell you what, you know, it had me thinking, is this what it felt like to be in Germany in 1933.”
Many of the 17 Senate Democrats who spoke likened Padilla’s removal to actions seen in dictatorial states and called for a bipartisan investigation.
“Make no mistake, the effort to manhandle our colleague, to push him out of the room for asking an inconvenient question, to handcuff him — it’s an attempt to shut him up. It’s an attempt to shut everyone up who has a dissenting view from this administration,” Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.) said, pointing to the decision to deploy the military to quell the Los Angeles protests.
“They want to intimidate you,” he added.
Sen. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), Padilla’s seatmate, also characterized the response as an attempt to silence a lawmaker confronting questionable actions in their state.
“There he is, going to this press conference to advocate for those who are most vulnerable, to ask the questions that need to be answered, like ‘What is the basis under the law or Constitution to over the objection of the governor to federalize the Guard to be used against our own people in California?’” he said.
“I understand why Secretary Noem doesn’t want to answer these questions because she can’t, but it is Alex Padilla’s job to ask those questions and to demand those answers, and we are proud of him. We are proud of him. We are proud of his courage and his steadfastness.”
Noem had organized the press conference to boast about U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) operations in Los Angeles, where officers have arrested hundreds of migrants, with some already swiftly deported.
The large-scale raids sparked protests that were met with force by the administration. President Trump took the unusual step of bypassing Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) in calling in the National Guard and deploying 700 Marines — an even more unusual scenario for a subset of the military trained for war.
ICE’s relationship with Congress was already under scrutiny after a scrum took place outside a New Jersey detention facility that lawmakers were attempting to visit.
Newark Mayor Ras Baraka (D) was arrested, though charges were subsequently dropped. And interim U.S. Attorney Alina Habba has brought charges against Rep. LaMonica McIver (D-N.J.), alleging she assaulted an officer with her forearms during a chaotic scuffle.
Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) noted Thursday there are laws on the books protecting lawmakers.
“These thugs who manhandled the senator probably don’t know it’s a federal offense to attack a member of Congress, but that’s not what it’s about. It shouldn’t be anybody in our country [who is] treated this way. So we speak out for Sen. Padilla. We’re speaking out for everyone who has a right to speak,” she said.
Rep. Adriano Espaillat (D-N.Y.), the chair of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, referred to what happened as an assault.
“Sen. Padilla was not only stopped from expressing his opinion, he was assaulted. He was assaulted. Anybody that sees the video will see that he was aggressively assaulted and thrown on the ground for simply just wanting to express his opinion,” he said.
Rep. Pete Aguilar (D-Calif.), a fellow Southern Californian, said he wanted more than an investigation.
“We need answers. We don’t need reports. We need answers from Sen. [John] Thune, from Speaker Johnson. We need answers to these questions because Donald Trump’s administration is unhinged,” he told reporters.
Sen. Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii), who was visibly angry during his brief remarks, urged those protesting in California and elsewhere this weekend to “be very peaceful” given what happened to Padilla and issued a vociferous defense of the senator’s actions.
“I have never ever, other than Jan. 6, been so outraged at the conduct of an administration,” Schatz said.
Others pointed the finger at Noem, calling for her ouster.
“Kristi Noem should resign in disgrace,” Sen. Tina Smith (D-Minn.) wrote on social platform X.
While reactions from Senate Republicans were more muted, some made clear they were not fans of Padilla’s actions and accused him of grandstanding.
“I think he should have been here in Washington voting,” Senate Majority Whip John Barrasso (R-Wyo.) told reporters.
“He has a responsibility to his constituents to show up at work,” he continued. “Not to go try to make a spectacle of himself.”
Speaker Johnson said he thought Padilla should be censured.
“I think that that behavior at a minimum rises to the level of a censure,” Johnson told reporters. “I think there needs to be a message sent by the body as a whole that that is not what we’re going to do, that’s not what we’re going to act.”
The lack of support from Republicans infuriated Democrats.
“I cannot believe that we don’t have senators on both sides of the aisle calling this out as outrageous,” Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.) said.
“I’ve come to this floor often to speak out, to be angry, to be a voice for my people. I have never come this close to having tears in my eyes as I speak to both sides of this aisle about this horrendous incident that occurred.”
Rep. Brad Sherman (D-Calif.) said the lack of Republican criticism was troubling.
“I have studied trouble democracy, and this is how democracies unravel. What should scare you most is who wasn’t at this press conference,” he said. “To my knowledge, not a single Republican has criticized the manhandling of Sen. Padilla.”
And as Johnson endorsed the censure, a group of Democrats heckled him.
“Mike, that’s absurd,” Rep. Sam Liccardo (D-Calif), who represents the San Francisco Bay area, shouted. Rep. Dan Goldman (D-N.Y.) added, “Why don’t you stand up for Congress?”
Outside of Congress, Padilla and the administration traded different accounts of what had happened.
“I was there peacefully. At one point I had a question, and so I began to ask a question,” Padilla said. “I was almost immediately forcibly removed from the room. I was forced to the ground, and I was handcuffed.”
But he also pointed to the broader treatment of migrants being swept up in LA immigration raids that have sparked widespread protests.
“I will say this: If this is how this administration responds to a senator with a question, I 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,” he said.
The Department of Homeland Security later accused Padilla of failing to identify himself and “lunging” toward Noem.
While Padilla did push his way toward the front of the room, he clearly identifies himself.
“Senator Padilla chose disrespectful political theatre and interrupted a live press conference without identifying himself or having his Senate security pin on as he lunged toward Secretary Noem,” DHS spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin wrote on X.
“Mr. Padilla was told repeatedly to back away and did not comply with officers’ repeated commands. @SecretService thought he was an attacker and officers acted appropriately. Secretary Noem met with Senator Padilla after and held a 15 minute meeting.”