June 12, 2025 02:38 PM UTC

Plainclothes Fed Thugs Tackle U.S. Senator

•  
• by: Colorado Pols

UPDATE: Rep. Jason Crow responds:

When a U.S. Senator gets thrown to the ground, manhandled, and handcuffed for doing their job, ask yourself—how will they treat you & your family?

This type of stuff happens in dictatorships, not democracies.

Donald Trump wants total control. But we will not be intimidated. https://t.co/GDVnWfQ3uF

— Rep. Jason Crow (@RepJasonCrow) June 12, 2025

Sen. John Hickenlooper:

Alex Padilla is one of the most reasonable and thoughtful Senators I know. I am sure some in the White House will try to minimize how serious this is, but it is disgraceful. There needs to be immediate and full accountability.

To that end, Colorado’s senior Sen. Michael Bennet is calling for an investigation:

This afternoon, @SenAlexPadilla was forcibly removed and assaulted by Secretary Noem's staff and FBI agents at an open press conference in California. This is a gross abuse of power.

I demand a full investigation into what happened today. https://t.co/SPkqxKFvhm

— Michael Bennet (@SenatorBennet) June 12, 2025

—–

NBC News reports, check off another box on the national decline into authoritarian dystopia checklist:

Sen. Alex Padilla, D-Calif., was forcibly removed from a news conference in Los Angeles on Thursday after trying to question Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem during a press conference related to immigration.

“I am Sen. Alex Padilla. I have questions for the secretary,” Padilla said to Noem, which prompted several men to physically push him out of the room. It was unclear who the men were, as several were dressed in plainclothes…

[Padilla] added, “If this is how this administration responds to a senator with a question, 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.”

Despite the fact that you can clearly hear Sen. Alex Padilla identifying himself as plainclothes agents shoved him out of the room, Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem claims he did not–which the administration can be expected to stick to regardless of what your lying eyes say:

Noem: This man burst into the room and started launching towards the podium interrupting me and elevating his voice and was stopped, did not identify himself and was removed from the room.

As soon as he identified himself, appropriate actions were taken pic.twitter.com/qMPIHYW6hR

— Acyn (@Acyn) June 12, 2025

Afterwards, in all fairness, Sen. Padilla was allowed to meet Kristi Noem, but by then the public relations damage was done. No apology forthcoming, no discipline of the offending federal agents.

Rough them up first, allow questions later is how authoritarians roll.