First they came for the immigrants. Then they took down our Latino senator – Los Angeles Times

U.S. Sen. Alex Padilla is removed from the room after interrupting a news conference with Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem on Thursday at the Wilshire Federal Building in Los Angeles. (Luke Johnson / Los Angeles Times)

California

First they came for the immigrants. Then they took down our Latino senator

By Anita Chabria Columnist
June 12, 2025 Updated 2:46 PM PT

Federal agents manhandled California Sen. Alex Padilla out of the room, shoved him down onto his knees and handcuffed him. Sen. Adam Schiff, our other California senator, came to his colleague’s defense, demanding an investigation.

Things were looking tense in Los Angeles on Thursday even before federal agents took down U.S. Sen. Alex Padilla.

We had the Marines, slightly trained in domestic crowd control, heading out to do crowd control. We had ICE raids, sweeping up a man from a church. Or maybe it was ICE — the armed and masked agents refused to say where they were from.

But then the situation went further south, which to be honest, I thought would take at least until Monday.

Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem was in town to cosplay at being an ICE agent herself. You know she loves to dress up. Padilla, who was in the same building to meet with a general, went to a news conference she was hosting and tried to ask her a question.

Bad idea.

Federal agents manhandled him out of the room, shoved him down onto his knees and handcuffed him. By the end, he was face down on the ground. The FBI has confirmed to my colleagues that he was not arrested, but that’s little comfort.
VIDEO | 01:07
Sen. Alex Padilla forcibly removed from press conference

While officers may not have known Padilla was a U.S. senator when they started going after him, they certainly did by the time the cuffs were snapping.

Padilla was heard saying, “Hands off, hands off. I’m Sen. Alex Padilla,” as the officers pushed him back.

The hands remained on.

Shortly after the video of this frightening episode hit social media, Gov. Gavin Newsom posted on X, “If they can handcuff a U.S. Senator for asking a question, imagine what they will do to you.”

Indeed.

After he got back on his feet, Padilla made it clear all he was trying to do was get some information because his questions have gone unanswered so far.
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“I was there peacefully,” he told reporters. “At one point I had a question, and so I began to ask a question. I was almost immediately forcibly removed from the room. … 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.”

Source Links: First they came for the immigrants. Then they took down Alex Padilla – Los Angeles Times

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