(WASHINGTON) — California Democratic Sen. Alex Padilla became emotional as he spoke on the Senate floor about being forcibly removed from Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem’s news conference last week in Los Angeles.
“If you watch what unfolded last week and that what happened is just about one politician and one press conference, you’re missing the point,” Padilla said. “If that is what the administration is willing to do to a United States senator for having the authority to simply ask a question — imagine what they’ll do to any American who dares to speak up.”
Padilla said a National Guard member and an FBI agent escorted him into the news conference. He said he was in the same building for a different meeting.
“I was physically and aggressively forced out of the room, even as I repeatedly announced I was a United States senator and I had a question for the secretary,” he said. “And even as the National guardsman and the FBI agent who served as my escorts and brought me into that press briefing room stood by — silently, knowing full well who I was. You’ve seen the video. I was pushed and pulled, struggled to maintain my balance.”
Padilla got emotional, struggling to explain what happened last week.
“I was forced to the ground, first on my knees, and then flat on my chest, and as I was handcuffed and marched down a hallway repeatedly asking, ‘Why am I being detained?'” he said.
“I pray you never have a moment like this,” he added.
“‘Am I being arrested here? What will a city already on edge from being militarized think when they see their United States senator being handcuffed just for trying to ask a question? And what will my wife think? What will our boys think?,'” he continued.
Padilla warned about the precedent set by President Donald Trump’s deploying Marines and the National Guard to Los Angeles.
“What’s happening is not just a threat to California, it’s a threat to everyone in every state,” he said. “If Donald Trump can bypass the governor and activate the National Guard to put down protests on immigrant rights, he can do it to suppress your rights, too. If he can deploy the Marines to Los Angeles without justification, he can deploy them to your state, too,” he added.
Padilla received a loud round of applause from some senators in the chamber.
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