In their defense, they are used to Republicans kneeling more quickly
It's just another day in Trump's America as FBI agents forcibly remove a U.S. senator and handcuff him.
Intro by Sam Bellamy
At a news conference Thursday afternoon in Los Angeles, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem had just finished vowing to have her department “liberate this city from the socialist and the burdensome leadership that this governor and this mayor have placed on this country" when Sen. Alex Padilla tried to interrupt with a question.
It didn’t go well for him.
As you’ll see in the top video below, officers proceed to push the California Democrat — who had just identified himself and was surely recognizable by Noem — against the back wall of the room, force him into a hallway and shove him to the floor as Noem keeps talking. He is then handcuffed.
Note the cameramen being told at the end of the video that no recording is allowed in the hallway.
Afterward, DHS officials defended the senator’s treatment.
“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,” DHS posted on X. “Mr. Padilla was told repeatedly to back away and did not comply with officers’ repeated commands. @SecretService thought he was an attacker and officers acted appropriately.”
Lunged? The only “lunge” visible in the video is Padilla’s attempt to not be hauled away as he tells the officers who he is.
In the second video, at the 2-minute mark, Padilla says he wasn’t detained or arrested. He then says something all Americans need to think about — if they treat a U.S. senator like this, what are they doing to the farmworkers, cooks and others they’re seizing during raids across California and the rest of the country?