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Democratic Sen. Alex Padilla of California said that he has serious questions for Kristi Noem after Secret Service and FBI agents forcibly pinned him to the ground and handcuffed him after he tried to ask the Homeland Security Secretary a question during a press conference in Los Angeles.
Padilla spoke to Dana Bash on CNN’s State of the Union on Sunday and responded to calls from some of his Democratic Party colleagues who have called for Noem’s resignation.
“That’s maybe not my focus right now,” Padilla said. “But I do think there’s some serious questions. How does the cabinet secretary not know the senator from California when she steps foot into Los Angeles? She came to the Senate at one point.”
The incident happened when Noem came to Los Angeles after President Donald Trump had deployed the National Guard and U.S. Marines into California without the consent of Governor Gavin Newsom.
The deployment followed protests against raids by Immigration and Customs Enforcement, which, at times, led to the destruction of property, such as setting WayMo self-driving vehicles on fire.
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Noem said at the press conference that the Trump administration came to “liberate the city from the socialists and the burdensome leadership.”
Padilla, who has a Senate office in the same building, introduced himself as he approached her. “I am Senator Alex Padilla, I have questions for the secretary, ” said.
Noem and law enforcement officials later claimed he did not introduce himself.
Padilla had criticized the administration exploiting incidents involving roughly a dozen people accused of violent crime to rationalize large-scale mass deportations and raids that have rocked communities across the state.
Agents then began pushing back against him and moved him out of the press conference, then pined him down and handcuffed him.
Padilla told CNN that Homeland Security’s actions have consequences.
“How does Secretary of Homeland Security not know how to de-escalate the situation?” he said. “It’s because you can’t, or because they don’t want to, and it sets the tone. Donald Trump and Secretary Noem have set the tone for the Department of Homeland Security and the entire administration in terms of escalation and extreme enforcement actions.”
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Padilla was not arrested or charged with any crimes. But he did say later that the incident shows how easily federal agents could treat other people without official government titles.
The incident with Padilla is not the only time that the Trump administration has escalated situations with Democratic lawmakers.
Last week, Rep. LaMonica McIver from New Jersey was indicted on federal charges accusing the Democratic representative of interfering with immigration officers outside of a detention center in her state.
Padilla later appeared on CBS Face the Nation where moderator Margaret Brennan asked him about polling, including from CBS, that showed that much of the public supports mass deportations, a key part of the Trump’s 2024 campaign.
“It depends on how you ask the question,” Padilla said. “If you ask the same people, ‘Do they think we should maintain due process in the United States of America?’ The answer is overwhelming yes. ‘Do DREAMers deserve better than the limbo that they find themselves in?’ Overwhelmingly, on a bipartisan basis, yes.”
Padilla said that border security mattered, as does creating a more orderly process for immigration.
“But we can’t forget the millions of long-term residents people who have been here working, paying taxes raising families, buying homes contributing to the strength of our economy,” he said. “They deserve better.”
