DOJ won’t say whether Dem senator will face charges after derailing Noem press conference
It’s unknown if Sen. Alex Padilla, D-Calif., will face federal charges from the Department of Justice after he interrupted a press conference that Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem was holding in Los Angeles on June 12.
“No comment here,” a DOJ spokesperson told Fox News Digital in an email on Wednesday afternoon when asked if the department plans to file charges against the Democratic senator.
“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. Mr. Padilla was told repeatedly to back away and did not comply with officers’ repeated commands,” Homeland Security tweeted after the incident. [Secret Service] thought he was an attacker and officers acted appropriately.”
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Padilla was pushed out of the room by the Secret Service and briefly arrested after trying to ask the secretary a question in the middle of her remarks.
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While he was wearing a shirt marked “United States Senate” and identified himself by name, he was not wearing his security pin.
“I was forced to the ground,” he said in a Senate floor speech about the incident, saying that officers would not answer why he was being detained.
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“I pray you never have a moment like this,” he added. On Tuesday, the Senate Democratic Caucus wrote a letter to Noem criticizing how law enforcement handled the situation.
Despite the incident, Padilla and Noem ended up holding a meeting afterward, which Padilla’s office described as “civil,” and Noem described as “cordial” even though there were strong disagreements between the two.
The senator told CNN’s “State of the Union” that he was escorted into the room by the National Guard and the FBI, as he was taking another meeting in the same building where Noem held her press conference.
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The secretary was in Los Angeles to address the anti-ICE protests and riots that unfolded in the city as federal authorities conducted immigration enforcement efforts in the region. Fox News Digital reached out to Padilla’s office to see if he had been contacted by the DOJ.
However, Padilla is far from the only one who has made waves for protesting ICE and DHS. Rep. LaMonica McIver, D-N.J., was arraigned in federal court on Wednesday for allegedly “forcibility impeding and interfering with federal officers” during a protest outside the Delaney Hall Federal Immigration Facility in Newark on May 9. Newark Mayor Ras Baraka was also arrested at the May 9 protest on a trespassing charge that was later dropped.
“I pleaded not guilty because I’m not guilty. We will fight this,” McIver said outside the courthouse.
In New York City, comptroller and Democratic mayoral candidate Brad Lander was arrested and then released for allegedly “assaulting law enforcement and impeding a federal officer,” DHS said last week. He was holding onto an individual that immigration court authorities were trying to take into custody, according to the Associated Press.
DHS said last week that ICE agents are facing a 500% uptick in assaults as opposition to the Trump administration’s immigration policies continue.
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