Senator Alex Padilla was forcibly removed from a Department of Homeland Security press conference while asking a question to Secretary Kristi Noem.
The confrontation was caught on video as dozens of journalists attended the Los Angeles press conference.
Padilla appeared to interrupt Noem as she was speaking. He identified himself and started asking a question when two to three men started pushing him towards the door.
“I’m Senator Alex Padilla. I have questions for the secretary because the fact of the matter is half a dozen violent criminals that you’re rotating on your…. hands off,” the senator could be heard saying.
Padilla resisted as he kept asking his question. After exiting the first door, an FBI agent grabbed him, and he was escorted away. Padilla was forced to the ground and handcuffed by federal officers in a hallway of the federal building.
When Padilla asked his question, Noem was still speaking and had not opened the press conference for questions at that time.
Noem was in Los Angeles to discuss the recent ICE raids and protests that have been occurring since Friday.
The FBI, ICE, ATF, and Border Patrol were also in attendance at the conference.
