In a troubling incident on June 12, 2025, Sen. Alex Padilla was forcibly removed and detained while attempting to question Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem during a press conference. Video footage shows officers aggressively handling Padilla as he tried to address concerns about the Trump administration's anti-immigrant policies. Padilla's staff clarified that he was fulfilling his congressional duties when the incident occurred. Observers, including author Silky Shah, criticized the event as a manifestation of authoritarianism and warned it reflects a broader issue regarding treatment of public officials by law enforcement.
"I'm Senator Alex Padilla. I have questions for the secretary," Padilla says, struggling to speak as he's manhandled.
Senator Padilla is currently in Los Angeles exercising his duty to perform congressional oversight of the federal government's operations in Los Angeles and across California.
"Fascism and authoritarianism are deployed through law enforcement," says author and organizer Silky Shah.
The way officers treated him, a sitting U.S. senator, in front of cameras at a press conference, is an alarming sign of worse.
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