Democrats swiftly and forcefully condemned the Trump administration after an explosive encounter at a press convention in Los Angeles on Thursday that resulted in U.S. Senator Alex Padilla being forcibly eliminated and cuffed by Division of Homeland Safety brokers.
“United States Senator Alex Padilla was representing the hundreds of thousands of Californians who’re demanding solutions to this Administration’s actions in Southern California. It is a shameful and gorgeous abuse of energy,” stated former Vice President Kamala Harris.
Padilla was cuffed and ultimately launched after the tense scene at a press convention held by Homeland Safety Secretary Kristi Noem. The senator interrupted Noem as she delivered remarks. In line with cellular phone video footage launched by Senator Padilla’s workplace, the California lawmaker clearly acknowledged, “I’m Senator Alex Padilla. I’ve questions for the secretary.”
Afterward, Padilla made clear he was not arrested or detained, however did share that he was “compelled to the bottom and handcuffed.”
Nationwide Democrats accused the Trump administration of assaulting Padilla, who has served within the U.S. Senate since 2021. Padilla was appointed by Gov. Gavin Newsom when Kamala Harris left the seat vacant after she was elected vp. He was elected to a full time period in 2022.
“Senator Alex Padilla is an effective man and principled public servant. The brazen and aggressive manhandling of Senator Padilla by the Trump administration is a sickening shame,” stated U.S. Rep. Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., the Home Democratic chief. “Anybody who assaulted the Senator ought to be held accountable. Nobody is above the regulation.”
Fellow U.S. Senator Cory Booker, D-N.J., stated Padilla was “fulfilling his Congressional oversight duties” on the time of the bodily encounter with DHS brokers.
“That is no remoted occasion; this can be a sample of habits by the Trump administration. There’s merely no justification for this abuse of authority,” Booker added.
After being launched by DHS officers, an emotional Padilla instructed reporters, “If that is how this administration responds to a senator with a query, if that is how the Division of Homeland Safety responds to a senator with a query, you may solely think about what they’re doing to farm employees to cooks to day laborers out within the Los Angeles neighborhood and all through California and all through the nation.”
The Padilla incident comes throughout a politically-charged local weather in Los Angeles, the place President Donald Trump deployed 2,000 Nationwide Guard troops and 700 U.S. Marines to quell tensions on the streets amid mass protests towards the Trump administration’s immigration raids and deportations. The choice to ship army troops to a civilian metropolis has been closely criticized by Democrats and advocates who say it’s unlawful with out the approval of the California governor and alerts a extra troubling improvement of presidential overreach.
The takedown and handcuffing of Padilla follows different controversial encounters between Democratic elected officers and federal regulation enforcement. An identical encounter occurred in Could exterior of an ICE detention facility in New Jersey, the place federal brokers arrested Newark Mayor Ras Baraka, who was accompanying an tried oversight go to with U.S. Reps. LaMonica McIver, Bonnie Watson Coleman and Rob Menendez.
McIver, who tried to intervene in Baraka’s arrest, was later indicted by the U.S. Lawyer of New Jersey, Alina Habba, a former Trump aide whom the president appointed. Baraka’s costs had been later dropped. A choose overseeing Baraka’s case scolded the administration for the “hasty arrest” and described it as a “worrying misstep.”
Democrats expressed outrage over the costs towards McIver.
“I’m completely heartbroken and really upset about her being indicted,” U.S. Rep. Maxine Waters, D-Calif., instructed theGrio earlier than the Padilla incident. “The Democratic caucus has received to face behind her. We’ve received to be sure that the assets can be found for her to have the ability to defend herself.”
The longtime congresswoman referred to as on Democrats to “get up,” including, “We will’t again down.”
“We’ve received to be sure that we do every little thing that we are able to in order that they don’t consider they are often profitable in arresting us and indicting us and mainly eliminating our means to serve,” stated Waters.
