Democrat senator ejected from Trump official’s presser
LOS ANGELES—Department of Homeland Security Sec. Kristi Noem pledged to “liberate” Los Angeles on Thursday at a press conference that was dramatically interrupted when a Democratic senator interrupted her and the lawmaker was dragged out of the room, forced to the ground and handcuffed.
Sen. Alex Padilla of California was forcibly ejected after he suddenly spoke out insisting that he wanted to ask Noem a question.
Noem said later that Padilla had not identified himself as a senator. The video shows him doing so as he was being accosted and pushed out of the room.
Fox News reported that Padilla was not wearing his Senate pin.
Noem, who later met with Padilla and said the they agreed to talk further, was in the city after days of protests against federal immigration raids by the Trump administration.
President Donald Trump, a Republican, has deployed the National Guard and the Marines, despite the objections of the state’s Democratic governor, Gavin Newsom, and other officials, who say the move is unnecessary and illegal.
The 9th US Circuit Court of Appeals on Thursday allowed Trump to maintain his deployment of National Guard troops in Los Angeles.
“We’re going to stay here and build our operations until we make sure we liberate the city of Los Angeles,” Noem said.
Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass called on Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers to stand down from the intensified series of raids that led to the protests, saying the local economy could be harmed as immigrants stayed home from work and school for fear of being snatched off the streets.
“The peace that we need to have happen needs to begin in Washington, and we need to stop the raids,” Bass said. —REUTERS
