Democrat senator forcibly removed from Noem press conference

Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem is once again at the center of a controversy.  

During her Thursday press conference in California, Sen. Alex Padilla (D-CA) was forcibly removed from the proceedings.  

They are both telling different stories, and the video of the incident does not do much to clarify either of them.  

Right or wrong

I am going to let you watch the video of the incident first, then we can break down what each side is saying about it.

According to Noem, Padilla lunged at the podium, at which point her protection detail blocked the lawmaker and started to remove him from the room.  

Noem stated, “We were conducting a press conference to update everyone on the enforcement actions that are ongoing to bring people bring peace to the city of Los Angeles, and this man burst into the room, started lunging towards the podium, interrupting me and elevating his voice, and was stopped, did not identify himself, and was removed from the room.” 

These security details work off pin identifiers for officials, and while Padilla apparently had on a shirt with his Senate logo on it, it was covered by his jacket, and he did not have his senator’s pin on the jacket.  

Padilla claims he never lunged, stating, “I was there peacefully. At one point, I had a question, and so I began to ask a question. I was almost immediately forcibly removed from the room, I was forced to the ground, and I was handcuffed.” 

Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) responded, “I just saw something that sickened my stomach — the manhandling of a United States senator. We need immediate answers to what the hell went on.” 

Sen. .Adam Schiff (D-CA) added, “The disgraceful and disrespectful conduct of DHS agents, pushing and shoving him out of a briefing like that, demands our condemnation. He will not be silenced or intimidated. His questions will be answered. I’m with Alex.” 

California Gov. Gavin Newsom called Padilla one of the most “decent” people he knows, then added, “This is outrageous, dictatorial, and shameful. Trump and his shock troops are out of control. This must end now.” 

We obviously cannot see the very beginning of the altercation because it started off-camera, but when it did start, all I could hear was Padilla talking. I did not hear him identify himself until after agents started to remove him.  

By that time, the agents are only concentrating on removing the possible threat.  

This, in my opinion, was planned by Padilla. Exactly what happened was what he wanted to have happen so he could portray this administration and the DHS as being out of control.  

He very easily could have coordinated with DHS to let them know he would be attending and wanted to ask a question. He also could have identified himself to her team immediately upon entering the room, so they would have taken note of who he was. He did none of that, then wore a coat without the identifying pin.  

Padilla wanted this happen, and Noem’s team did what they were supposed to do in that situation, but as we have already seen, this is being played up as the Trump administration being out of control.  

The media will destroy Trump and Noem for this, but I feel fairly confident in my assessment of what took place here.  

What I would like the media to do is ask Padilla why he did not identify himself to her security team earlier and why he was not wearing his pin. But that would be honest journalism, something we do not see very often these days.