What to Know
- Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem was speaking on immigration enforcement in Los Angeles when Sen. Alex Padilla interrupted the speech and was removed by Secret Service agents.
- Padilla was handcuffed and held facedown on the floor in a hallway as Noem continued speaking.
- Noem had been speaking on California and Los Angeles leadership moments before Padilla was removed.
- Padilla was at the Federal Building to meet with Gen. Gregory Michael Guillot, a United States Air Force general who has served as the commander of United States Northern Command.
- Noem's visit comes as tensions remain high in Los Angeles over recent ICE raids that led to days of largely peaceful protests.
Sen. Alex Padilla was forcibly removed from a news conference and handcuffed Thursday morning as Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem was speaking on recent immigration enforcement operations in the lawmaker's hometown of Los Angeles.
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WATCH HEREThe stunning altercation unfolded as Noem was speaking at a federal building in Los Angeles, where days of protests have erupted in the city's downtown area over the ICE raids. Padilla was removed from the room after saying, "You insist on exaggerating." At least two men identified as Secret Service agents by the Department of Homeland Security approached Padilla, a Democrat, near a wall and pushed him through doors near the rear of the room.
He could be heard saying, "I am Sen. Alex Padilla and I have questions for the secretary" before he was removed, handcuffed and held facedown on the floor in a hallway.
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SIGN UP Noem continued speaking to the room of reporters and law enforcement officers.
Video showed Padilla facedown on the floor in the hallway outside the room before he was allowed the stand and released from handcuffs.
"We'll have plenty of time to take your questions after the press conference," Padilla said when asked about the altercation.
U.S. & World
Noem had been speaking on California and Los Angeles leadership moments before Padilla was removed.
"We're not going away," Noem said just before the disruption. "We are going to liberate the city from the burdensome leadership, mayor and governor."
Padilla's office issued a statement indicating he is not currently detained, but was handcuffed. He was at the Federal Building to meet with Gen. Gregory Michael Guillot, a United States Air Force general who has served as the commander of United States Northern Command, which oversees National Guard operations.
"Senator Padilla is currently in Los Angeles exercising his duty to perform Congressional oversight of the federal government's operations in Los Angeles and across California," his office said. "He was in the federal building to receive a briefing with General Guillot and was listening to Secretary Noem’s press conference. He tried to ask the Secretary a question, and was forcibly removed by federal agents, forced to the ground and handcuffed. He is not currently detained, and we are working to get additional information."
Speaking later outside the Federal Building, Padilla he was in conference room awaiting the briefing the the general when he learned about Noem's news conference a few doors down the hall. He expressed frustration over questions about immigration enforcement operations that he said the DHS has left unanswered.
"So I came to the press conference to hear what she had to say, to see if I could learn any new additional information," Padilla said. "And, at one point, I had a question, and let me emphasize, just as we've emphasized
the right for people to peacefully protest and to stand up for their First Amendment rights, for our fundamental rights, was there peacefully. So I began to ask a question and was almost immediately forcibly removed from the room."
In a post on X, the Department of Homeland Security said Secret Service members thought Padilla "was an attacker."
"Senator 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," DHS said. "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.
"Secretary Noem met with Senator Padilla after and held a 15 minute meeting."
Speaking outside the Federal Building in LA's Westwood area, Noem said Padilla appeared to be "lunging" toward her and "nobody knew who he was."
"If he had requested a meeting, I would have loved to have sat down and had a conversation with him that coming into a press conference like this is political theater," Noem said. "It's wrong, and it does a disservice to this country and the people who live here. So we sat down, had a conversation. We probably disagree on 90% of the topics, but we agreed to exchange phone numbers. We'll continue to talk and share information, and I think that's the way it should be in this country. I wish he would have acted that way in the beginning, instead of creating a scene like this."
The FBI said in a statement that Padilla was briefly detained and released.
"During a press conference today held at the FBI’s Los Angeles Field Office, Senator Alex Padilla was detained by members of the U.S. Secret Service assigned to Secretary Noem’s detail when he became disruptive while formal remarks were being delivered," the FBI said. "Secret Service Agents were assisted by FBI Police who are in Los Angeles at this time. Senator Padilla was not wearing his senate security pin; however, was subsequently positively identified and released."
Padilla, born and raised in Los Angeles, was elected to the U.S. Senate in November 2022. He began serving in the Senate in January 2021 after he was appointed to a vacancy due to the election of Vice President Kamala Harris.
The first Latino to represent California in the U.S. Senate, Padilla's family immigrated to Los Angeles from Mexico in the 1960s.
He among the state and local leaders in California who have been at odds with federal authorities about ICE raids and the federalization of the National Guard and Marines in response to recent demonstrations over the immigration enforcement operations.
The immigration enforcement operations are part of President Trump's mass deportation plan, a central focus of his campaign. Recent operations in Southern California have led to protests in Los Angeles, where President Trump has activated National Guard members and 700 Marines at federal properties in the city without requests to do so from local and state officials.
The administration has highlighted arrests involving undocumented individuals with violent crime convictions. Those who have been caught up in the nationwide raids include asylum seekers, people who overstayed their visas and migrants awaiting their day in immigration court.
Los Angeles police have made nearly 400 arrests and detentions in connection with demonstrations and violence since Saturday, the vast majority of which were for failing to leave the area at the request of law enforcement. There have been a handful of more serious charges, including for assault against police officers and for possession of a Molotov cocktail and a gun.
Reports of vandalism and looting Monday night led to a limited curfew for a 1-square-mile area in downtown Los Angeles, a city of nearly 4 million people that encompasses 500 square miles. The LAPD reported no arrests for vandalism or looting in its arrest updates on Wednesday and Thursday.
The use of military troops in Los Angeles was expected to receive its first court test later Thursday when a judge hears arguments from attorneys for California and the Trump administration. The hearing was granted after Gov. Newsom requested a court limit the scope of the missions for the National Guard and Marines.
The hearing in San Francisco is scheduled for 1:30 p.m.
Demonstrations have picked up across the U.S., with protests popping up in more than a dozen major cities. The Trump administration has said it is willing to send troops to other cities to assist with immigration enforcement and controlling disturbances — in line with what Trump promised during last year’s campaign.
