The Tulare County Democratic Committee issued a harsh statement of defiant condemnation following the arrest on Thursday of U.S. Sen. Alex Padilla (D) during a press conference on immigration conducted by Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem in Los Angeles.
“We are outraged by the unjust and aggressive detainment of … Padilla while he stood in defense of the people of California,” the statement from local Democrats said. “Silencing a sitting senator – especially one exercising his right to question federal actions – undermines the very foundation of democracy.”
Noem was addressing ongoing arrests of suspected undocumented individuals living in the Los Angeles area starting on Friday, June 6. The ongoing sweeps by officers of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) have triggered nationwide protests and violent confrontations with federal officers and police in Los Angeles and Orange County.
Padilla, who was at the Wilshire Federal Building where the press event was being conducted for a military briefing, entered the room where it was being held to question Noem, he said. He was detained and removed from the room under force by members of the Secret Service. Padilla was not held in custody.
His office issued a statement to the AP following the incident: “He tried to ask the secretary a question, and was forcibly removed by federal agents, forced to the ground and handcuffed. He is not currently detained, and we are working to get additional information.”
The Department of Homeland Security issued a counterstatement: “Senator Padilla chose disrespectful political theatre and interrupted a live press conference without identifying himself or having his Senate security pin on as he lunged toward Secretary Noem. Mr. Padilla was told repeatedly to back away and did not comply with officers’ repeated commands.”
A video of the incident shows Padilla shouting his identity and resisting as he is pushed by an individual. A second person restrained Padilla and he was removed from the room. He was then pushed to the ground and handcuffed. Hours after his arrest, Padilla addressed a group of reporters outside the federal building where he was detained.
“Over the course of recent weeks, I (and) several of my colleagues have been asking the Department of Homeland Security for more information and more answers on their increasingly extreme immigration enforcement actions, and we’ve gotten little to no information in response to our inquiries,” Padilla said. “And so I came to the press conference to hear what she had to say to see if I could learn any new additional information.”
Noem was speaking when Padilla attempted to interrupt her and was arrested. DHS defended the action, claiming the agents believed the senator was an attacker.
Padilla implied the intensity of the response to his presence at the media event was typical of the behavior of the DHS in general under the Trump administration.
“If this is how this administration responds to a senator with a question, if this is how the Department of Homeland Security responds to a senator with a question, you can only imagine what they’re doing to farm workers to cooks to day laborers out in the Los Angeles community and throughout California and throughout the country,” Padilla said.
The Tulare County Democratic Committee’s statement expressed unqualified support for the senator’s actions.
“This blatant abuse of powers is unacceptable. We stand in full solidarity with Sen. Padilla and all those demanding accountability, transparency and dignity for our communities. We will not be intimidated. We will organize, resist and rise.”
Protests against the raids have since spread to at least 35 cities in 21 states, including Boston, Chicago, Seattle, Milwaukee, New York and Atlanta. Nationwide, more than 560 people have been arrested. The National Guard and Marines have been dispatched to California by the Trump administration. Texas Gov. Greg Abbot has called up that state’s National Guard in anticipation of ongoing civil unrest.
A lawsuit by California officials challenging the legality of using federal troops to protect ICE agents will be heard today. According to reporting by the AP, eight high-ranking former U.S. military officials said in a filing to the court that the action of the Trump administration is an unneeded risk to the well-being of the troops and poses “multiple risks to the core mission of the National Guard and Marines.”
On Saturday, hundreds of protests against the Trump administration and its policies will take place around the country. The No Kings protest has been billed as “a national day of action and mass mobilization in response to increasing authoritarian excesses and corruption from Trump and his allies.”
The Visalia No Kings protest is scheduled for 10:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. in front of the Tulare County Courthouse, 915 South Mooney Boulevard. In Hanford, the protest will be from 9:30 to 11:30 a.m. at the corner of Lacy Boulevard and 12th Avenue. In Three Rivers, the No Kings protest will take place from 9 to 11 a.m. in front of the Three Rivers Post Office, 40857 Sierra Drive. More information is available at www.fiftyfifty.one.