United States

Democratic Senator Padilla handcuffed in Los Angeles: controversy and reactions

Senator Alex Padilla was handcuffed during a press conference, sparking controversy and indignant reactions.

13 June 2025

Il senatore degli Stati Uniti Alex Padilla è stato bloccato e portato fuori dopo aver interrotto la conferenza stampa tenuta dal segretario per la Sicurezza Interna degli Stati Uniti U.S. Kristi Noem e altri, a Los Angeles, California, il 12 giugno 2025. Reuters/Aude Guerrucci

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White House: senator should be ashamed

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Democratic Senator Alex Padilla was forcibly removed from the press conference byHomeland Security Minister Kristi Noem.

Padilla was sent away and then laid on the ground and handcuffed. Before being removed, he repeated several times that Noem was exaggerating in describing the need for federal authorities in Los Angeles for protests and raids against immigrants.

Kristi Noem

Ministra per la sicurezza interna U.S.

Kristi Noem, segretario della Sicurezza Interna degli Stati Uniti, parla durante un tour del Centro di contenimento dei terroristi (Cecot), mentre i prigionieri sono in piedi, guardando fuori da una cella, a Tecoluca, El Salvador, il 26 marzo 2025. (Foto di Alex Brandon / POOL / AFP)

California Governor Gavin Newsom attacks Noem for detaining the Democratic Senator - "If they can handcuff a US Senator just because he asks questions, imagine what they will do to you.

Usa, senatore dem Padilla ammanettato durante una conferenza stampa a Los Angeles

Governor Newsom wrote this on Instagram, accompanying the post with a photo of Alex Padilla being led away by force and handcuffed during Homeland Security Minister Kristi Noem's press conference in Los Angeles.

Similar and immediate reaction also came from the city's mayor, Karen Bass, who wrote on X: 'What has just happened to Senator Padilla is absolutely horrible and outrageous. He is a sitting United States Senator. The violent attacks by this administration in our city must stop'.

Minister Noem: 'I did not recognise the handcuffed senator'. Kristi Noem did not apologise for the detention of Californian Senator Alex Padilla during one of her press conferences in Los Angeles but explained that she did not recognise him. "I would have preferred that he had introduced himself and told us who he was and that he wanted to speak. His attitude was not at all appropriate, but the conversation was great and we will continue to communicate. We even exchanged phone numbers,' the minister said.

Padilla interrupted her a couple of times before being stopped, thrown to the ground, handcuffed and then removed by some federal agents from the Department of Homeland Security.

Dem Senator: 'I will hold Trump to account' 'They made me kneel, lie down and handcuffed me. But I was not arrested. I was not detained,' California Senator Alex Padilla speaks to reporters outside the federal building in Los Angeles where he was handcuffed after interrupting Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem.

With a trembling voice, Padilla denounced the incident: 'I will say this: if this is how this administration responds to a senator who asks a question, if this is how the Department of Homeland Security responds to a senator who asks a question, you can only imagine what they are doing to farm workers, to cooks, to day labourers in the Los Angeles community, throughout California, and throughout the country. We will hold this administration to account,' he said.

White House: senator should be ashamed

The White House condemned Democratic Senator Alex Padilla who was forcibly removed and handcuffed by FBI agents during a press conference by Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem in Los Angeles.

"He should be ashamed of his childish behaviour", said administration spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt on X. "He intruded in the middle of an official press conference held by a secretary of state threw himself recklessly towards the podium where Kristi Noem was speaking and then refused to leave the room and follow the directions of law enforcement."