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Sen. Alex Padilla was forced to remove from the press conference and was handcuffed Thursday morning as Homeland Security Secretary Christie Noem was speaking about his recent immigration enforcement project in the lawmaker’s hometown.
Noem was speaking about recent ice work in the area in a federal building in Los Angeles when Padilla was taken out of her room after saying, “You insist on exaggerating.” At least two men approached Padilla, a Democrat near the wall, and passed through a nearby door at the back of the room.
You can hear him say, “I am Senator Alex Padilla and I have a question for my secretary.”
Noem continued to talk to the reporter and the law enforcement officer’s room.
In the video, Padilla heads out to the floor in the hallway outside the room.
“After the press conference, you will have plenty of time to ask questions,” Padilla said when asked about the altercation when he was released from handcuffs.
Noem was speaking about leadership in California and Los Angeles before Padilla was removed.
“We won’t go away,” Noem said just before the confusion. “We’re going to free the city from the mayors, mayors and governors.”
As the federal government dealt with the recent immigrant raids and protests in Los Angeles, Sen. Alex Padilla, an Indigenous of Angeleno, suspended the press conference and cried out at the SEC. Christini Noem.
Padilla’s office has issued a statement indicating that he is currently not in custody but has been handcuffed. He was in the Federal Building and met with US Air General Gregory Michael Guillott to serve as US Northern Commander overseeing the National Guard operations.
“Senator Padilla is currently in Los Angeles and is in charge of his obligation to oversee Congressional federal activities in Los Angeles and California,” his office said. “He was in a federal building, where he was briefed with General Gilott and listened to a press conference for Chief Noem. He tried to ask a question to his secretary, forced to remove him by federal agents, forced to the ground and handcuffed.
In a post on X, the Department of Homeland Security said Secret Service members said that Padilla “thought it was an attacker.”
“Senator Padilla chose a disrespectful political theatre and suspended the live press conference without identifying himself or wearing a Senate security pin,” DHS said. “Padilla was repeatedly told to retreat and failed to comply with the officer’s repeated orders. @secretservice thought he was an attacker and the officer acted appropriately.
“Director Noem met with Senator Padilla and held a 15-minute meeting.”
Details of the meeting were not available immediately.
The sedan driver caught between two federal law enforcement agencies was taken into custody on the scene. Alex Rozier is reporting an NBC4 News report on Wednesday, June 11th, 2025 at 5pm.
California’s state and local leaders are in conflict with federal authorities over ice attacks and federalization of the National Guard and Marines in response to recent demonstrations on immigration enforcement activities.
The immigration enforcement project is part of President Trump’s massive deportation plan, a central focus of his campaign. Recent work in Southern California led to protests in Los Angeles, where President Trump has revitalized National Guard members and 700 Marines with federal property in the city’s security forces, urging local and state officials to do so.
The use of the military in Los Angeles was expected to take the first court test later Thursday when a judge heard arguments from lawyers in the California and Trump administrations. The hearing was granted after Governor Newsom requested the court to circumstance of the National Guard and Marines’ duties.
The hearing in San Francisco is scheduled for 1:30pm
Born and raised in Los Angeles, Padilla was elected to the US Senate in November 2022. He began serving in the Senate in January 2021 after being appointed vacant by Vice President Kamala Harris.
The first Latinos to represent California in the US Senate moved from Mexico to Los Angeles in the 1960s.
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