在加利福尼亚州民主党参议员亚历克斯·帕迪拉被强行从国土安全部部长克里斯蒂·诺姆周四的新闻发布会上带走后，民主党人表示愤怒洛杉矶，被执法人员带到地上，戴上手铐。
诺姆在接受媒体采访时谈到了联邦政府对抗议活动的反应移居当Padilla进入房间并接近Noem的讲台时，海关执法人员对该地区进行了突击检查。当他走近时，房间里的警察抓住参议员，将他冲出房间，带到走廊上，将他按倒在地，并给他戴上手铐。
视频显示，参议院司法委员会移民、公民和边境安全小组委员会的高级成员帕迪拉表明了自己的身份，并表示他想在执法人员迫使他离开房间时问一个问题。
后来，有人看到帕迪拉在一个会议室里不带手铐与诺姆说话。诺姆后来说，两人谈了10到15分钟，并交换了电话号码。诺姆说她没想到他会被起诉。
诺姆说执法部门做出反应是因为他没有表明自己的身份就向她走去。她告诉福克斯新闻频道，没有人知道他是谁，他正在“向前冲”
该事件的视频捕捉到帕迪拉在被推出房间时表明了自己的身份;不清楚他是在事发前还是在接近领奖台时这样做的。
帕迪拉后来告诉记者，他参加了新闻发布会，因为国土安全部没有回答他关于政府驱逐出境和移民政策的问题。
“所以我来到新闻发布会，听听她要说些什么，看看我是否能了解到任何新的额外信息，”这位参议员说，并强调他是和平出席的。
DHS发言人Tricia McLaughlin声称帕迪拉在走向讲台前没有表明自己的身份。
“参议员帕迪拉选择了无礼的政治舞台，并在没有表明身份或佩戴参议院安全别针的情况下打断了一场现场新闻发布会，他冲向了部长诺姆，”她在x上的一篇帖子中说，“帕迪拉先生被反复告知后退，但他不遵守官员们的反复命令。@SecretService认为他是一名袭击者，警官们采取了适当的行动。"
诺姆告诉福克斯新闻频道，她更愿意与帕迪拉交谈，“但参加这样的新闻发布会是政治戏剧。”
“我们坐下来进行了一次谈话，我们可能在90%的话题上有分歧，但我们同意并交换了电话号码，我们将继续交谈并分享信息，这是这个国家应该采取的方式，”她说。“我希望他一开始就那样做，就是制造这样一个场景。”
帕迪拉的民主党同事对他受到的待遇颇有微词。
“我刚刚看到一件令我作呕的事——粗暴对待一名美国参议员。我们需要立即知道到底发生了什么，”参议院少数党领袖查克·舒默说。
加州州长加文·纽瑟姆称帕迪拉是“我认识的最正派的人之一”
“这令人愤慨、独裁、可耻，”纽瑟姆在x上写道，“特朗普和他的突击部队已经失控。这一切现在必须结束。”
洛杉矶市长凯伦·巴斯(Karen Bass)在X上发帖称，“刚刚发生在@SenAlexPadilla身上的事情绝对令人憎恶，令人发指。”
加州参议员亚当·希夫称针对帕迪拉的行动是对民主的“攻击”。
“这是一个不尊重我们的民主、我们的机构、分权和平等的政府部门的政府，”他说。
众议院少数党领袖哈基姆·杰弗里斯告诉记者，处理帕迪拉的方式是“完全和彻底的耻辱”
“[参议员帕迪拉]在那个新闻发布会上做他的工作，询问加利福尼亚发生了什么，他代表的州和美国人民，他被鲁莽和侵略性地粗暴对待。这是不可接受的。这是不合理的。这是不爱国。他告诉记者:“这不符合美国精神，参与粗暴对待帕迪拉参议员的每一个人都应该受到法律的最大限度的追究。”。
杰弗里斯表示，民主党人将“以一切可能的方式积极反击”，让特朗普政府承担责任。
国会拉美裔党团也要求对此事件进行调查。
“这是不可接受的，句号，”CHC在x上发帖称，“@SenAlexPadilla出席公开记者会，进行辩论，代表他的州，做他的工作。我们要求进行全面调查，并追究参与袭击现任美国参议员的每一名官员的责任。”
前副总统卡玛拉·哈里斯称这一事件是“可耻和令人震惊的滥用权力”
在参议院，民主党参议员帕蒂·默里(Patty Murray)说，“一名美国参议员，在他由数百万人选出的家乡州，向他的选民提出一个问题以获得答案，并被残酷地摔倒在地，戴上手铐，这是不可接受的。这是错误的。
“当那个声音被扼杀时会发生什么?那个声音被摔在地上铐上手铐会怎么样?那个声音已经消失了，”她说。
西班牙裔党团成员后来闯入议长迈克·约翰逊和参议院多数党领袖约翰·图恩的办公室。来自加州国会代表团的民主党人冲到众议院台阶上谴责这一事件。
“今天对参议员帕迪拉的攻击是对我们国家言论自由的攻击，”前议长南希·佩洛西在那里说。
加州众议员吉米·戈麦斯要求诺姆在国会作证。
“一名资深参议员声嘶力竭地喊着，‘我是参议员亚历克斯·帕迪拉’，”戈麦斯说。“我们想知道的是，我们将要求克里斯蒂·诺姆来到国会，就今天发生的事情作证。”
图恩周四晚上告诉记者，他已经与帕迪拉和参议院警卫官交谈过，并试图联系诺姆，并表示他正在收集事实。
他说:“我们希望全面了解所发生的事情，并做我们在任何涉及参议员的类似事件中会做的事情，即试图收集所有相关信息。”。
当被问及根据他目前所见，他是否认为所发生的事情是恰当的时，图恩说，“这就是我要说的。”
帕迪拉办公室的一份声明说，他在大楼里听取了北方司令部司令格雷戈里·吉约特将军的简报，并听取了诺姆的新闻发布会。
“他试图问部长一个问题，但被联邦特工强行带走，按倒在地，戴上手铐。他目前没有被拘留，我们正在努力获得更多信息，”声明说。
众议院议长·迈克·约翰逊告诫帕迪拉，称参议员的行为“非常不恰当”，并补充说，“你不能指控一名现任内阁部长。”
“我认为，我们需要从整体上传达一个信息，那就是我们不会这么做。这不是我们要采取的行动，”他在一个不相关的新闻发布会上说，被民主党成员喊着“你撒谎!”打断当他们游行到图恩的办公室抗议这一事件时。
Democrats condemn senator being pushed down and handcuffed at Noem press conference
Democrats expressed outrage after Democratic Sen. Alex Padilla of California was forcibly removed from Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem's news conference on Thursday inLos Angeles, taken to the ground and handcuffed by law enforcement officers.
Noem was speaking to the media about the federal response to protests againstImmigrationand Customs Enforcement raids in the area when Padilla entered the room and approached Noem's podium. As he approached, police officers in the room grabbed the senator, rushed him out of the room into a hallway, forced him to the ground and handcuffed him.
Video shows Padilla, the ranking member of the Senate Judiciary Committee's Subcommittee on Immigration, Citizenship, and Border Safety, identifying himself and saying he wanted to ask a question as law enforcement forced him out of the room.
Padilla was later seen without handcuffs speaking to Noem in a conference room. Noem said later that the two spoke for 10 to 15 minutes and exchanged phone numbers. Noem said she didn't expect him to be charged.
Noem said law enforcement reacted because he took steps toward her without identifying himself. She told Fox News that no one knew who he was and that he was "lunging forward."
Video of the incident captures Padilla identifying himself as he is pushed out of the room; it's not clear if he did before the incident or as he approached the podium.
Padilla later told reporters that he attended the news conference because Homeland Security had not been answering his questions about the administration's deportation and immigration policies.
"And so I came to the press conference to hear what she had to say, to see if I could learn any new additional information," the senator said, emphasizing that he was there peacefully.
DHS spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin alleged Padilla did not identify himself before approaching the podium.
"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," she said in a post on X. "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."
Noem told Fox News that she would have preferred to have talked with Padilla, "but coming into a press conference like this is political theater."
"We sat down and had a conversation and we probably disagree on 90% of the topics, but we agreed and exchanged phone numbers and we will continue to talk and share information and that is the way it should be in this country," she said. "I wish he would've acted that way in the beginning is that of creating a scene like this."
Padilla's Democratic colleagues were critical of the way he was treated.
"I just saw something that sickened my stomach -- the manhandling of a United States senator. We need immediate answers to what the hell went on," Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom called Padilla "one of the most decent people I know."
"This is outrageous, dictatorial, and shameful," Newsom wrote on X. "Trump and his shock troops are out of control. This must end now."
Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass posted on X, "What just happened to @SenAlexPadilla is absolutely abhorrent and outrageous."
Fellow California Sen. Adam Schiff called the actions against Padilla an "assault" on democracy.
"This is an administration that has no respect for our democracy, for our institutions, for the separation of powers, for a co-equal branch of government," he said.
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries told reporters the way Padilla was handled was a "complete and total disgrace."
"[Senator Padilla] was at that press conference doing his job, asking questions about what is taking place in California, the state that he represents and on behalf of the American people, and he was recklessly and aggressively manhandled. That was unacceptable. It was unconscionable. It was unpatriotic. It's un-American, and every single person who was involved in manhandling Senator Padilla should be held accountable to the full extent of the law," he told reporters.
Jeffries said Democrats would "push back aggressively in every way possible" to hold the Trump administration accountable.
The Congressional Hispanic Caucus also demanded an investigation into the incident.
"This is unacceptable, full stop," the CHC posted on X. "@SenAlexPadilla attended an open press conference to engage in debate, to represent his state, to do his job. We demand a full investigation and consequences for every official involved in this assault against a sitting US senator."
Former Vice President Kamala Harris called the incident "a shameful and stunning abuse of power."
On the Senate floor, Democratic Sen. Patty Murray said, "It is unacceptable that a United States senator, in his elected home state, elected by millions of people, went to ask a question for his constituents to get an answer, and brutally thrown to the ground and handcuffed. That is wrong.
"What happens when that voice was stifled? What happens when that voice is thrown to the ground and handcuffed? That voice is lost," she said.
Members of the Hispanic Caucus later barged into the offices of Speaker Mike Johnson and Senate Majority Leader John Thune. Democrats from the California congressional delegation rushed to the House steps to condemn the incident.
“This assault on Senator Padilla today was an assault on freedom of speech in our country,” former Speaker Nancy Pelosi said there.
California Rep. Jimmy Gomez called for Noem to testify before Congress.
"A senior senator who was shouting at the top of his lungs, 'I am Senator Alex Padilla,'" Gomez said. "And what we want to know -- we're going to ask for and demand that Kristi Noem come before Congress and testify about what occurred today."
Thune told reporters Thursday evening that he had spoken with Padilla and the Senate sergeant-at-arms and had attempted to reach Noem and said he was gathering facts.
“We want to get the full scope of what happened and do what we would do in any incident like this involving a senator, that is try to gather all of the relevant information,” he said.
When asked if he thought what occurred was appropriate based on what he had so far seen, Thune said, “That’s all I’ve got to say.”
A statement from Padilla's office said he was in the building to receive a briefing from NORTHCOM commander Gen. Gregory Guillot and was listening to Noem's news 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," the statement said.
House Speaker Mike Johnson admonished Padilla, calling the senator's behavior "wildly inappropriate," adding, “You don't charge a sitting Cabinet secretary."
"I think there needs to be a message sent by the body as a whole that that is not what we're going to do. That's not how we're going to act," he said during a news conference on an unrelated matter that was interrupted by Democratic members shouting "You lie!" as they marched to Thune's office to protest the incident.
