Sen. Alex Padilla (D-Calif.), who was handcuffed by security Thursday after interrupting a press conference in Los Angeles held by Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, said “misinformation” from the secretary led him to speak out, adding that many claims about his actions are “all BS.”
Sitting for an interview with “Pod Save America,” Padilla said a planned briefing he was set to have was delayed because some of those he was to meet with were appearing with Noem at her press conference.
“So as we’re waiting, waiting, I say, ‘Well, they haven’t been responding to our inquiries and our letters. Maybe we go listen in and see if they have anything new to say,’” he said.
Padilla said he was “literally being escorted” by a National Guard service member and an FBI agent and that he was allowed into the room.
“They open the door for me. I’m standing in the back. Trying to listen, you know, I don’t want to get in front of the cameras or in front of the reporters and just the rhetoric is too much. Not the first time, but the second time they claim that Donald Trump and Secretary Noem is here to liberate the people of Los Angeles from the governor and from the mayor — that’s when I spoke up, right? I had a question to ask. I wanna call ’em out on their misinformation,” Padilla said.
“Anybody who’s seen the video knows that I repeatedly introduced myself. They knew who I was. I was not lunging at the secretary. I was, you know, halfway through the back of the room on one side trying to get a question out,” he added.
“It took all of maybe half a second for multiple agents to be on me … and shoved out the door and before I know it, I’m on my knees, I’m on the ground getting in handcuffs.”
Administration officials said Noem’s security detail acted appropriately by responding to an unknown figure, claiming he did not identify himself despite footage showing him saying “I’m Sen. Alex Padilla. I have questions for the secretary.”
They have also criticized him for not wearing his Senate pin — something lawmakers wear at the Capitol to help them be identified by U.S. Capitol Police when moving through the building.
“Padilla embarrassed himself and his constituents with this immature, theater-kid stunt — but it’s telling that Democrats are more riled up about Padilla than they are about the violent riots and assaults on law enforcement in LA,” White House spokesperson Abigail Jackson said in a statement that also accused Padilla of storming a press conference and lunging toward Noem.
Padilla on the podcast said he was wearing a shirt with the U.S. Senate logo on it when he entered the room.
“It says U.S. Senate. And if you watch the video, I repeatedly introduced myself. So this is all BS. It’s all spin.”
Padilla also discussed his meeting with Noem after the press conference, saying it was the first time the two have ever spoken and yielded few answers to questions he asked.
“That’s why despite being in handcuffs one minute when being offered a meeting with her, an audience with her, to the next, I said yes, because I was there to do a job, right? I’m a member of the United States Senate. I have questions. I’m requesting information. And if that’s what it took to finally get an opportunity to ask those questions and get some information, then that’s why I took it,” Padilla said.
He said the discussion lasted about 10 minutes.
“The big takeaway here is if they’re willing to — if a senator asking a question scares them so much that they’ll deploy agents to put a United States senator in handcuffs, imagine what they’re doing to people out there, maybe subject to an immigration raid, who have a question … may be requesting their lawyer but not getting that opportunity,” he said.
“These are dangerous times for the United States of America.”
