US senator forcefully removed from DHS event in LA, triggering Democratic outcry on Capitol Hill

By Michael Williams, CNN

(CNN) — US Sen. Alex Padilla of California said he had been attempting to ask a question when he was forcefully removed from a press conference held by Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem in Los Angeles Thursday.

“I was there peacefully. At one point I had a question, and so I began to ask a question,” Padilla said in his first public remarks following the incident. “I was almost immediately forcibly removed from the room. I was forced to the ground, and I was handcuffed. I was not arrested. I was not detained.”

He continued: “If this is how this administration responds to a senator with a question, if this is how the Department of Homeland Security responds to a senator with a question, you can only imagine, what they’re doing to farm workers, to cooks, to day laborers out in the Los Angeles community and throughout California and throughout the country.”

The senator also urged people protesting the Trump administration’s enforcement actions to do so peacefully.

“There is a lot of concern, there is a lot of tension, there is a lot of anxiety, and a lot of people are beginning to make plans for what they or may or may not do come this Saturday,” Padilla said, adding: “I encourage everybody to please peacefully protest – just like I was calmly and peacefully listening in that press conference.”

No charges are currently planned against the senator, two law enforcement sources familiar with the incident told CNN.

Video shows forceful take down

Video of the confrontation shows the Democratic senator interrupting Noem during her opening remarks at the event on DHS’ response to the protests in Los Angeles and identifying himself as officers grabbed him and pushed him toward a door.

“I’m Sen. Alex Padilla,” he shouted as he was led out of the room, which is in the Los Angeles headquarters of the FBI. “I have questions for the secretary.” The senator appeared to take a couple of steps forward as he was being forced back. Noem remained at her podium and tried talking over the senator.

“Because the fact of the matter is, a half a dozen violent criminals that you’re rotating onto your—,” Padilla said as he was pushed out a set of double doors. He shouted “hands off!” as Noem continued her remarks and did not finish his question.

Video taken by Padilla’s aides outside the room showed officers ordering him to his knees and demanding he put his hands behind his back. Uniformed FBI police officers, who provide security for bureau facilities, put him in handcuffs as he lay on the ground.

Asked about the incident later during the press conference, Noem responded: “I don’t even know the senator.”

“He did not request a meeting with me or to speak with me. So when I leave here, I’ll have a conversation with him and visit and find out, really, what his concerns were.”

The pair later spoke after the press conference.

Padilla said in his public remarks that he had not been detained or arrested.

Elected officials, including several of Padilla’s colleagues in Congress, immediately denounced the way he was treated and described it as a brutish overreaction to a senator who tried asking a question.

Democratic senators condemn incident

In Washington, Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer swiftly took to the Senate floor to condemn the incident, saying he was “sickened” at the way Padilla was treated and demanded answers.

Fellow California Democratic Sen. Adam Schiff said he was “disgusted” by the incident, called on Noem to resign and said there should be an investigation of the conduct of the officers involved.

“I just watched the video of the abuse of Sen. Padilla, and I’m just disgusted by what I saw,” Schiff told reporters on Capitol Hill Thursday afternoon. “He has every right to ask questions, indeed, that’s his responsibility and to be treated the way he was to be essentially bought to the ground and shackled after identifying himself is a disgraceful action.”

Schiff has not yet spoken to Padilla, but he said he texted Padilla once he saw the video.

Two Senate Republicans expressed concern about the incident.

“I think it’s very disturbing,” Sen. Susan Collins of Maine said of the video showing Padilla being removed, though she added: “I don’t know what preceded it.”

Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski told reporters she had also seen the video, saying: “It’s horrible. It is shocking at every level.”

Senate Majority Leader John Thune, meanwhile, told reporters he wanted “to get the facts and find out exactly what happened” before commenting on the matter.

Senate Majority Whip John Barrasso accused Padilla of causing the commotion, telling reporters the senator “has a responsibility to his constituents to show up to work, not make a spectacle of himself.”

This story is breaking and will be updated.

CNN’s Josh Campbell, Manu Raju, Alison Main, Nicky Robertson, Veronica Stracqualursi, Ted Barrett and Molly English contributed to this report.

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