The American Democratic Senator Alex Padilla was pushed, forced to throw himself to the ground and handcuffed by security elements, after trying to ask a question at a press conference offered by the Secretary of National Security, Kristi Noem, about immigration raids.
“I am Senator Alex Padilla. I have questions for the secretary,” Padilla said during the conference in Los Angeles, where Noem was talking about the protests in the city for the immigration offensive of President Donald Trump.
“Do not touch,” said Padilla, 52, security agents before they took him out of the place.
A video shared by Padilla showed what happened below: three agents pushed him to the ground and handcuffed his hands behind his back. Reuters could not immediately confirm the authenticity of the material.
Padilla represents California, where Los Angeles has lived days of protests against Trump’s immigration repression. The White House responded by sending National Guard troops and American Marines to the city, stating that they would help protect federal buildings and defend the agents of the Immigration and Customs Control Service (ICE).
The National Security Department in a statement in X accused Padilla of participating in “Irrestious Political Theater.”
“@Secretice thought he was an attacker and the officers acted properly,” said the department, adding that Noem later met with Padilla.
Padilla said in a statement that he was released shortly after.
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“If this is, the National Security Department answers a senator with a question, they can only imagine what they are doing with farmers, the chefs, the day laborers from the entire community of Los Angeles, throughout California and throughout the country,” said Padilla.
The deputy director of the FBI, Dan Bongino, defended the actions of the agents in social networks.
“The senator in question did not carry a security pin and physically resisted the forces of the order when confronted,” said Bongino, referring to the flap pins that the senators usually carry in the Capitol. “Our FBI staff acted completely appropriate when collaborating with the Secret Service.”
During Trump’s first week in office, his administration warned that he would investigate the officials to attempt their hard -line migratory agenda. He has acted in response to those threats.
The mayor of Newark, Ras Baraka, was arrested and accused of purple raid on May 9 while visiting a private immigration center. The Prosecutor’s Office subsequently withdrew the positions, but accused the American Democratic representative Lamonica Mciver to assault and resist the agents who tried to arrest Baraka.
Both have denied having acted badly.
Federal prosecutors also criminally accused a Wisconsin judge for trying to help a man in court to evade immigration authorities.
Trump said earlier this week that he would support the arrest of California Democratic governor, Gavin Newsom, who accused the administration of violating the law by sending troops to the city.
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“This is a sad and terrifying situation,” McIver said Thursday. “This administration will not stop at all to prevent elected officials from doing their job and demanding accountability to our voters. We are seeing it in real time: they do not want supervision, they want total control.”
Partisan response
The confrontation around Padilla caused immediate and angry responses from the Senate Democrats.
The Senate Democratic leader, Chuck Schumer, said that the video of the press conference “smells of totalitarianism.”
New Jersey’s Democratic Senator of New Jersey described Padilla’s treatment as “a pattern and a practice. This is not an isolated incident”, referring to the Newark incident.
“I’ve been here for more than 32 years,” said Democratic Senator Patty Murray, from the state of Washington. “I can’t believe there are no senators of both parties that consider this outrageous.”
Many Republicans criticized Padilla’s actions.
“He should have been here in Washington voting. He has the responsibility against his voters to present himself to work, not trying to make a show,” Senator John Barraso de Wyoming, the second most ranking republican in the camera, told the press.
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Republican senator Lisa Murkowski from Alaska, a dissident in her party who in the past said that Trump’s political reprisals make people “be afraid,” he criticized the treatment given to Padilla.
“Senator Padilla is a big and tall guy, and seeing how they took it out of that room is wrong and sick,” journalists told the Capitol.
With Reuters information
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