Democrats Are Outraged by Padilla Incident

After Sen. Alex Padilla was forcibly removed from Kristi Noem's press conference in Los Angeles and handcuffed on Thursday, his fellow Democrats on Capitol Hill were outraged. Lawmakers took to the Senate floor to denounce the way the California senator was treated and dozens of House Democrats marched to Speaker Mike Johnson's office, the Hill reports. Democrats called for a full investigation and some, including Sen. Elizabeth Warren, said the Homeland Security chief should resign, reports Politico. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said it "sickened my stomach—the manhandling of a United States senator," per Politico.

The AP reports that senators shared video of the incident, in which Padilla identified himself as a senator as he was pushed out of the room, with each other despite the chamber's rule against using cellphones. More reactions:

• Democratic Sen. Cory Booker. "What was really hard for me to see was that a member of this body was driven to his knees and made to kneel before authorities. This is a test. This is a crossroads. This is a day in which the character of this body will be defined."
• Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski. "It's horrible. It is shocking at every level. It's not the America I know."
• Democratic Sen. Brian Schatz. "I have never ever, other than Jan. 6, been so outraged at the conduct of an administration."
• House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries. "He 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 ... every single person who was involved in manhandling Senator Padilla should be held accountable to the full extent of the law."

Johnson was heckled by Democratic lawmakers after he suggested the Senate should censure Padilla for "wildly inappropriate" behavior, the Hill reports.

The White House claimed "Padilla stormed a press conference, without wearing his Senate pin or previously identifying himself to security, yelled, and lunged toward Secretary Noem." Padilla said he was in the building for a briefing and an FBI agent escorted him into the press conference. He said he initially stood at the back but decided to ask Noem a question about "increasingly extreme immigration enforcement actions," the New York Times reports. "If this is how this administration responds to a senator with a question, I can only imagine what they are doing to farmworkers, to cooks, to day laborers throughout the Los Angeles community," he said. Noem and Padilla said they spoke for about 15 minutes after the incident. Noem said they disagreed on "90% of the topics" but they agreed to talk again. (More Alex Padilla stories.)