Dems demand answers after Senator Padilla forcibly removed from DHS presser

WASHINGTON (CN) — Congressional Democrats condemned the Trump administration and Homeland Security on Thursday after California Senator Alex Padilla was forcibly removed from a press event for confronting Secretary Kristi Noem.

The incident, caught on video, occurred during a Los Angeles news conference amid ongoing protests over the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown.

In clips posted to social media, Senator Alex Padilla identifies himself and tries to question Noem before being forcibly restrained and removed by what appear to be plainclothes officers. Another clip shows him pinned to the hallway floor as officers attempt to cuff him.

Congressional Democrats, enraged at Padilla’s treatment at the hands of federal agents, convened Thursday afternoon on the Capitol steps for a fiery rebuke of Noem and the Trump administration.

“This is an outrage,” said California Representative Zoe Lofgren. “And, I’ll tell you what, it had me thinking — is this what it felt like to be in Germany in 1930?”

Lofgren was joined outside the Capitol by dozens of Democrats, including former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries and California Senator Adam Schiff. The lawmakers called on Noem and the Trump administration to testify before Congress, accusing them of targeting a sitting U.S. senator who was seeking answers about the federal response to the L.A. protests.

“I understand why Secretary Noem doesn’t want to answer those questions, because she can’t,” said Schiff. “But it is Alex Padilla’s job to ask those questions and to demand those answers. We are proud of him, proud of his courage and his steadfastness and his vigorous representation of the people of California. We cherish his voice, and we will not let this stand.”

Jeffries called on the agents who “manhandled” Padilla to be held accountable, calling the incident “unacceptable, unconscionable, unpatriotic.”

“This is not going to end until there is accountability and until the Trump administration changes its behavior,” the Democratic leader added.

The Democrats also pointed to what they said was a larger trend of the Trump administration flouting the law and democratic norms to crack down on not just public figures but average Americans.

“We want everyone to know that we see it’s wrong — not just for a senator or member of Congress, but for every person in our country,” said Pelosi.

New York Representative Adriano Espaillat, chair of the House Hispanic Caucus, joined his colleagues in demanding a full investigation of Padilla’s detainment. “The censoring of dissent has put this democracy in danger,” he said. “We want those people that assaulted him to be looked at and to be arrested.”

And California Representative Ted Lieu, visibly furious, issued a call to action to Americans to protest the Trump administration and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

“Go forth and righteously exercise your right to monitor the actions of ICE,” said Lieu, whose district includes the federal building where Padilla was accosted. “The way we hold this administration accountable is for the American people to rise up and peacefully exercise your rights and to make your voices heard.”

Padilla, for his part, told reporters that he had not been arrested or charged. “If this is how this administration responds to a senator with a question … you can only imagine what they are doing to farmers, to cooks, to day laborers

The Homeland Security Department, meanwhile, accused the California senator of disrupting Noem’s news conference.

“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,” said the agency’s deputy secretary for public affairs, Tricia McLaughlin, in a post on X.

McLaughlin said Padilla was told “repeatedly” to back away and did not comply, adding that Secret Service agents thought he was an “attacker” and that they acted “appropriately.”

Noem met with the senator for 15 minutes after the incident, she said.

House Speaker Mike Johnson put the blame for Thursday’s incident squarely on Padilla’s shoulders, telling reporters that his behavior was “wildly inappropriate” and suggesting that the Senate could even censure the lawmaker.

“We have to turn the temperature down,” said the speaker. “We need to be on the side of the rule of law.”

Amid the protests in Los Angeles this week, the Trump administration has federalized thousands of California National Guard soldiers and called up roughly 700 U.S. Marines who the White House has said will support immigration agents and protect federal buildings.

Johnson on Tuesday told Courthouse News that everything the president has done so far to respond to the protests has been “fully within his authority.”

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