During an interview with CNN on Sunday, Sen. Alex Padilla (D-CA) discussed his physical removal from a DHS press briefing by law enforcement after confronting DHS Secretary Kristi Noem.
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00:00Sure, after being in the room for several minutes, by the way, you know, you can't script this in Hollywood.
00:08I was in the federal building for a scheduled briefing with representatives of Northern Command
00:14when I learned that Secretary of Homeland Security, a couple doors down, was having the press conference.
00:19My briefing was delayed because some of the folks in that brief were participating in the press conference.
00:24So I asked the folks who were escorting me in the building, can we go listen in?
00:28In the hopes of some information, in the hopes of some insight as to their justification for the militarization,
00:37the escalation of what was happening in Los Angeles.
00:40And surprise, surprise, no substance came from that press conference, just political attacks.
00:46And when I heard the secretary, not for the first time in that press conference,
00:50talk about the needing to liberate the people of Los Angeles from their duly elected mayor and governor,
00:56it was at that moment that I chose to try to ask a question.
01:02You know, if all the Trump administration was doing was truly focusing on dangerous,
01:07violent criminals, as they suggest, there would be no debate.
01:10There would be no disagreement.
01:12But we've seen story after story after story of hardworking women and men,
01:16maybe undocumented, but otherwise law-abiding, good people being subject to the terror
01:24that this immigration enforcement operations is subjecting the people to,
01:29I needed to speak up.
01:31I needed to try to get the information from the secretary
01:34that they've refused to provide in hearing after hearing.
01:37So is that what you asked?
01:38Yes, the, the, uh, well, I was beginning to ask.
01:41I couldn't get a couple of words out before.
01:44Obviously you saw agents respond, hands on me pretty much immediately.
01:47And look, everybody's seen the video.
01:49You know what happened after that.
01:50Well, uh, I'm sure you've seen the DHS folks,
01:53woman Tricia McLaughlin posted that you, quote,
01:56tried to manufacture a viral moment.
01:59Nothing could be further from the truth.
02:01Uh, again, uh, what, what are the odds?
02:04I was in a, uh, federal building, a couple of doors down,
02:08awaiting a briefing from Northern command,
02:10because I still believe the federalization of the National Guard troops
02:14and, and deployment in Los Angeles was not only unlawful, unjustified,
02:18but counterproductive.
02:19It's what's escalated the tensions in Los Angeles.
02:22Uh, the sending in the Marines as a result,
02:25like things have been quieting down day after day.
02:28So why do you escalate by sending in the Marines?
02:30And an opportunity to ask a question,
02:33maybe get answers that DHS, including the secretary,
02:36will not provide in committee hearings in the Senate,
02:39will not respond to the letters that we've sent inquiring.
02:43It was an opportunity to ask, okay, and do my job as a senator, right?
02:47Do my job as a senator in questioning a cabinet secretary.
02:50Uh, our CNN security correspondent, Josh Campbell, who was an FBI agent,
02:54he said, just from a law enforcement perspective,
02:57Secretary Noem's security acted appropriately at the beginning,
03:03not when you were in the hallway being handcuffed,
03:05but at the beginning, uh, trying to keep you away
03:09or get you out of the room because you interrupted her press conference.
03:12What do you think of that?
03:15If that's how they treat a senator trying to ask a question,
03:22here's one of my big takeaways,
03:23then imagine not what they can do,
03:26what they are doing to so many people without titles.
03:29But they might not have known.
03:30I know you said pretty early, I'm a senator, but...
03:33I was escorted into that room by a National Guardsman and an FBI agent.
03:38Look, the whole Los Angeles press court,
03:40this is Los Angeles, this is my hometown.
03:41They know who I was.
03:43And what does it say about the secretary
03:45to not know who the senator from California is,
03:49the ranking member of the Judiciary Subcommittee on Immigration?
03:52You were escorted into the room by law enforcement.
03:55Absolutely.
03:56I was being escorted during my entire time in that building.
04:01From showing up in the building,
04:02going through security screening,
04:04escorted by an FBI agent, a National Guards member
04:06to the conference room where I was awaiting a briefing.
04:09They're the ones I requested.
04:10Well, if we're waiting, can we go listen in at the press conference?
04:13They escorted me over to the press conference.
04:15They opened the door for me and they stood next to me
04:17while I was listening for the entire time.
04:19And then, of course, once I was forced to be removed and handcuffed.
04:23Several of your fellow Democrats
04:25say that Secretary Noem should resign.
04:28Is that where you are?
04:29Look, that's maybe not my focus right now,
04:33but I do think there's some serious questions.
04:35How does the cabinet secretary not know
04:37the senator from California
04:39when she steps foot into Los Angeles?
04:42She came through the center for confirmation at one point.
04:45And certainly, how does the secretary of Homeland Security
04:47not know how to de-escalate a situation?
04:50It's because she can't or because they don't want to.
04:53And it sets the tone.
04:55Donald Trump and Secretary Noem have set the tone
04:58for the Department of Homeland Security
04:59and the entire administration
05:01in terms of escalation and extreme enforcement actions.
05:06One last question.
05:07Your Democratic colleague, Senator Brian Schatz,
05:10he was defending your actions on the Senate floor.
05:12It was a pretty emotional speech.
05:14He said the way you were treated
05:15is something we see in dictatorships,
05:18that in a democracy,
05:19you were allowed to be disrespectful and disruptive.
05:21I know you said that that was kind of an organic moment,
05:25but do you think more Democrats should be,
05:27in his words, disrespectful and disruptive?
05:30I wasn't trying to be disrespectful or disruptive,
05:32and I don't think I was.
05:33I was simply asking a question,
05:36just as the members of the press corps ask questions,
05:39members of the Congress, members of the Senate
05:40ask questions to do our job
05:42to hold the administration accountable.