Takedown of California’s senior U.S. Senator, Alex Padilla, expected to ratchet up interest in Saturday protests in Bay Area

The incident occurred amid heightened political tensions nation-wide, including protests this week against federal immigration authorities over increasingly aggressive sweeps of migrants and immigr…

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California’s senior U.S. senator, Democrat Alex Padilla, was forcibly removed, pushed to the floor and handcuffed Thursday after he interrupted a news conference by U.S. Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem about her department’s ongoing deportation enforcement in Los Angeles.

The incident in the federal building in Los Angeles drew immediate fire from both Democrats and Republicans.

“A United States Senator seeking clarification from a cabinet secretary should not be assaulted or treated like this,” Silicon Valley Democratic Congressman Ro Khanna said in a social media post on X.

Soon after the incident, Padilla’s office said the senator was no longer detained.

Bay Area Republican strategist Matt Shupe described Padilla’s attempt to abruptly question Noem “pure political theatrics.” Shupe said if he or a Republican legislator were to “barge onto” the scene of a news conference by Padilla or Gov. Gavin Newsom, “the exact same thing would’ve happened to us.”

It was unclear whether Noem, her staff, or security members knew who Padilla was initially. The senator can be heard identifying himself in video recorded at the scene, but Tricia McLaughlin, assistant secretary of Homeland Security, said in an X post that he “announced himself as he was being removed.”

Homeland Security said on X that Padilla “lunged toward Secretary Noem,” and that Secret Service agents “thought he was an attacker and … acted appropriately.” The video of the incident does not capture its entirety but does not show Padilla lunging at Noem.

San Jose State University emeritus professor of political science Larry Gerston said he would expect that “a number of people” at the news conference  knew who Padilla was,” adding that, “there aren’t that many senators — there are 100.”

Padilla’s office said he had been in Los Angeles “exercising his duty to perform Congressional oversight of the federal government’s operations in Los Angeles and across California.” On video, Padilla appears to be trying to ask Noem about deportations of people alleged by the administration of President Donald Trump to be violent criminals.

Gerston described the incident as “extraordinary,” and a “slippery slope.”

“We know that both the press and elected officials particularly have a job and that job is to get to the facts and understand what’s going on either for constituents in the case of elected officials or for the public,” Gerston said. “In the last few weeks we’ve seen mounting hostility toward both from the Trump administration.”

Dan Schnur, a lecturer at UC Berkeley and a former Republican political consultant, said Padilla may have crossed a line in interrupting the event, but the reaction from Noem’s security detail clearly went over the line.

“Senator Padilla made a questionable decision,” Schnur said. “There are more appropriate ways for members of the United States Senate to talk about an important policy issue with a member of the cabinet. But in no way did his decision in any way excuse the response that he faced. No American, let alone an elected official, ought to be subjected to that kind of violent reaction.”

The incident occurred amid heightened political tensions nationwide, including protests this week against federal immigration authorities over increasingly aggressive sweeps of migrants and immigrants, and deportations. Trump commandeered California’s National Guard to put troops on the ground in Los Angeles, and mobilized U.S. Marines to that city. This week, New Jersey Democratic Congresswoman LaMonica McIver was charged with “forcibly impeding and interfering” with federal law enforcement over a May 9 confrontation outside an immigration center in her state.

Political analysts said they believe the incident with Padilla will ratchet up discontent among liberals ahead of nationwide anti-Trump “No Kings” protests planned around the country and the Bay Area for Saturday, the same day Trump will hold a military parade in Washington, D.C. celebrating the U.S. Army’s 250th birthday, and coinciding with his own.

“This is going to ramp up the interest in those protests,” said Claremont McKenna College political science professor Jack Pitney.

The U.S. stands at a “pivotal moment” as Trump seeks to consolidate power in the executive branch, Gerston said, and the size and tone of the No Kings events will be meaningful.

“If the turnout is muted or modest, I think it gives strength to the Trump administration,” Gerston said. “If the turnout is large and angry, that may be an indication that people are beginning to see they’ve gone too far.”

For Americans on the left, the Padilla takedown follows a cascade of actions that together “raise alarm bells,” said Nolan Higdon, a history and media studies lecturer at Cal State University East Bay.

“I’m thinking of things like the National Guard in Padilla’s state without the governor’s agreement,” Higdon said. “The Marines. He’s got a military parade. He’s ignored due process for certain individuals arrested allegedly for being gang members. He’s ignored the courts.”

Pitney said he believes Padilla’s forcible detainment will not be the last such actions. “I don’t think the Trump administration will hesitate to use force,” Pitney said. “In the months ahead we’re going to see many different versions of force.”

Noem said in an X post she met with Padilla for 15 minutes after her security took him down.

“We probably disagree on 90% of the topics but we agreed to exchanged (sic) phone numbers and we will continue to talk — that is the way it should be in this country,” Noem wrote. “I wish he would’ve acted that way in the beginning rather than creating a scene.”

Noem at the news conference said federal immigration enforcement efforts would continue in the Los Angeles region. She assailed Newsom and Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass, who have both spoken out repeatedly against the Trump administration’s actions on migrants and immigrants.

“We are staying here to liberate the city from the socialist and the burdensome leadership that this governor and this mayor have placed on this country and this city,” Noem said.

Newsom, whose administration sued the federal government Monday over the National Guard deployment, called the response to Padilla at the news conference “outrageous, dictatorial and shameful.”

Originally Published: June 12, 2025 at 5:12 PM PDT

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