Washington — Lawmakers are calling for answers after Democratic Sen. Alex Padilla was forcibly removed from Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem’s news conference in Los Angeles on Thursday.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, a New York Democrat, expressed shock over “the manhandling of a United States senator,” adding that he wants answers “to what the hell went on.”
Padilla stood up and walked to the front of the room while Noem was speaking and tried to ask her a question. Federal agents began shoving him out of the room as he said, “Hands off, hands off. I am Senator Alex Padilla. I have questions for the secretary.” Once outside the room, the agents placed him on the ground and put him in handcuffs. His office said Padilla was in Los Angeles “exercising his duty to perform Congressional oversight of the federal government’s operations in Los Angeles and across California” and was in the building for a separate briefing.
Tricia McLaughlin, a spokeswoman for the Department of Homeland Security, said Secret Service agents “thought [Padilla] was an attacker and officers acted appropriately.” Noem told reporters that she and Padilla met after her press conference and had a “very productive” conversation.
“I wished that he would have reached out and identified himself and let us know who he was and that he wanted to talk,” Noem said. “His approach, you know, was something that I don’t think was appropriate at all. But the conversation was great and we’re going to continue to communicate. We exchanged phone numbers and we’re going to continue to talk on we can communicate better.”
PATRICK T. FALLON/AFP via Getty Images 
Nonetheless, Sen. Adam Schiff, Padilla’s fellow California senator, called on Noem to resign and said there should be an investigation into law enforcement’s conduct.
“It’s just outrageous and disgraceful and sickening to watch,” he said. “In the video, he’s identifying himself as Sen. Alex Padilla, so I have no doubt that they understood exactly who he was, and that makes it all the more troubling.”
Schiff added that Padilla has “every right to ask questions” and “to be treated the way he was, to be essentially brought to the ground and shackled after identifying himself, is a disgraceful action.”
Schiff was one of a slew of Senate Democrats who took to the Senate floor following the incident. Sen. Jeff Merkley of Oregon reiterated Schumer’s call for an investigation, saying he was “extremely outraged.” Sen. Cory Booker of New Jersey said “this to me is such an abuse of authority” and “there can be no justification.” Sen. Patty Murray of Washington said it was “unacceptable” and that Democrats and Republicans should condemn the way Padilla was treated.
“I have been here for more than 32 years,” Murray said. “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.”
Sen. Chris Murphy of Connecticut called it “an assault on the rule of law” and “an assault on our democracy.”
Sen. Brian Schatz of Hawaii said “there is no context that justifies this action.”
“This is the stuff of dictatorships,” Schatz said. “It is actually happening. A United States senator was manhandled, shoved to the ground and cuffed.”
Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto, a Nevada Democrat, likewise called on Noem to resign.
“Secretary Noem, you should resign,” Cortez Masto said in a post on X. “You’re head of Homeland Security and you can’t take a question from a sitting U.S. Senator at a press conference? This level of abuse of power is shameful, outrageous, and is not doing anything to keep our homeland safe.”
Rep. Ro Khanna, a California Democrat, brought up the incident during a House committee hearing on immigration, saying he was “horrified” and asking the Democratic governors before him, “tell me how you would feel if Marines were sent into your state or your senators were taken by the fists and pushed out of rooms?”
“What is going on in this country?” Khanna added.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom also shared an image of Padilla on X, saying, “If they can handcuff a U.S. Senator for asking a question, imagine what they will do to you.”
The outrage wasn’t only among Democrats. Sen. Lisa Murkowski, an Alaska Republican, told reporters she had seen a clip of the incident, calling it “horrible.”
“It is shocking at every level. It’s not the America I know,” she said.
Meanwhile, Senate Majority Leader John Thune, a South Dakota Republican, told reporters that he had seen video of Padilla’s removal but wanted more information before commenting further on the matter.
“Obviously we will have a response, but I want to get the facts and find out exactly what happened before we make any comments,” Thune said.
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