Alex Padilla removed from Kristi Noem press conference after effort to interrupt

Sen. Alex Padilla was forcibly removed Thursday from Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem’s press conference in Los Angeles after he sought to disrupt her remarks by asking questions.

His fellow Democrats on Capitol Hill feverishly denounced how he was treated.

Mr. Padilla was ordered to the ground and handcuffed by federal agents, but was not detained or arrested.

“Hands off!” he shouted as two men used their bodies to push him out of the room where Ms. Noem was appearing to talk about ongoing deportation operations in the city, and the protests they spawned.

“I’m Senator Alex Padilla. I have questions for the secretary,” the California Democrat said as he was pushed back through the reporters present and finally out the doorway.

He said he showed up at the federal building where the event was happening because he hadn’t been able to get information from the administration and thought the event for the press was a good chance.

“If this is how this administration responds to a senator with questions … you can only imagine what they’re doing to farm workers, to cooks,” Mr. Padilla said later at his own press conference.

Ironically, he declined to answer questions from the press.

Ms. Noem kept talking during his attempt.

She addressed the incident later in the press conference, saying Mr. Padilla didn’t request a meeting with her or ask to speak with her.

“When I leave here, I’ll have a conversation with him and visit and find out really what his concerns were,” she said. “I think everybody in America would agree that wasn’t appropriate.”

“If you wanted to have a civil discussion, especially as a leader, a public official, that you would reach out and try to have a conversation,” she said, adding that she has left voicemails for Democratic California Gov. Gavin Newsom and he hasn’t returned them.

Homeland Security said in a statement on X that Mr. 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.”

“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,” the post said.

The video attached to the post shows Mr. Padilla identifying himself as Sen. Alex Padilla.

The post also said Ms. Noem met with Mr. Padilla for a 15-minute meeting after the incident, but did not clarify what was said.

The incident quickly reverberated on Capitol Hill.

House Democrats attempted to force their chamber to adjourn, and Senate Democrats rushed to their chamber to demand answers about what happened and why.

Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer said the video “sickened my stomach” when he saw it.

“Senator Padilla was exercising his duty as a senator for his constituents to try and find out what happened, and instead he gets manhandled, thrown out of the room, thrown on the ground and handcuffed,” said Mr. Schumer, New York Democrat. “We need a full investigation immediately as to what happened, and who did what, and what’s going to be done to see that this doesn’t happen again to Senator Padilla or other American citizens who are seeking their right to redress.”

Senate Majority Leader John Thune said, “Obviously, we will have a response.”

“But I want to know the facts, find out exactly what happened,” the South Dakota Republican said.

Ms. Noem was speaking about the ongoing arrests of illegal immigrants in Los Angeles that have been met with continuous protests, some of which have turned violent.

During her press conference, video screens behind her showed slides of mug shots of people recently detained in the city, all of whom she said had criminal records.

“The Department of Homeland Security and the officers and the agencies and the departments and the military people that are working on this operation will continue to sustain and increase our operations in this city,” Ms. Noem said before being interrupted. “We are not going away. We are staying here to liberate this city from the socialist and the burdensome leadership that this governor and that this mayor have placed on this country and what they have tried to insert into this city.”

She said some of the images coming from the protests are “un-American.”

“Masked thugs are assaulting police officers. They’re setting vehicles on fire. They’re waving foreign flags on American soil while burning American flags, and they’ve damaged public property and destroyed private businesses,” Ms. Noem said.

Democrats have increasingly clashed with Homeland Security.

Rep. LaMonica McIver of New Jersey has been charged with assaulting Immigration and Customs Enforcement personnel after video showed her seeming to slam her arm into two ICE officers at a detention facility in her state.

She was objecting to the officers trying to arrest the mayor of Newark, whom ICE said was not allowed to be at the facility with members of Congress.

The White House slammed Mr. Padilla’s actions at Ms. Noem’s press conference, saying he “didn’t want answers; he wanted attention.”