Left-wing political activist Maria Teresa Kumar blamed Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Kristi Noem on Friday for the removal of Democrat California Sen. Alex Padilla after he heckled her at a press conference.
Padilla forced his way into Noemās press conference in Los Angeles and disobeyed officersā orders on Thursday, causing law enforcement to forcibly remove him, take him to the ground and place him in handcuffs. During her appearance on āMorning Joe,ā Kumar rushed to Padillaās defense by saying Noem had the responsibility to take his question and ease the entire situation.
āLetās take a step back, Willie. Letās assume that she did not hear him identify himself. How many times have we witnessed leaders at a podium, whether itās Senator McCain, whether we were talking about Bush, whether weāre talking about Obama. Even Secretary Mayorkas. How many times have they been in a place where they are heckled at the podium? And they do what is right, what leaders do. They de-escalate the situation. They basically say, āyou know what, I canāt take your question now. But perhaps afterwards .ā That is the job of a leader.ā
āYou have Secretary Noem who is in charge of 250,000 agents around the country, and she cannot de-escalate a basic press conference?ā Kumar continued. āInstead, it has to go to the maximum where they handcuff a sitting senator? That actually goes to a broader issue. Is she the right person for this job? Does she understand that right now, if she cannot control a press conference, how can we make sure there are not going to be rogue ICE agents, rogue folks that are not going to interfere with peopleās constitutional rights simply because she does not have the authority or the ability to actually reign her in?ā
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Kumar added that Padilla simply did his job by asking Noem a question inside a federal building. She also made the assumption that someone in the administration approached Noem and told her that she āreally messed up.ā
ā job at the podium, as the head of ICE, is to de-escalate situations and she absolutely failed,ā Kumar concluded.
After being removed from the premises, Padilla told reporters on Thursday that he was simply fulfilling his responsibilities as a senator to āconduct oversight and accountability.ā He said he arrived at the press conference to receive āadditional informationā about the DHSās increased arrests and that he got thrown out for āpeacefullyā asking a question.
āI was there peacefully, at one point I had a question, and so I began to ask a question,ā Padilla said. āI was almost immediately forcibly removed from the room, I was forced to the ground and I was handcuffed. I was not arrested, I was not detained. I will say this, 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 theyāre doing to farmworkers, to cooks, to day laborers out in the Los Angeles community and throughout California and throughout the country.ā
Footage showed Padilla refusing to obey officersā orders to put his hands up and fought back as they tried to escort him from the room.
DHS said in a statement on X that Padilla engaged in āpolitical theatreā by interrupting the press conference as he ālungedā at Noem. The agency confirmed that Noem met with the senator for a 15 minute meeting after the incident. Tricia McLaughlin, the assistant secretary of the DHS, said that the Secret Service believed Padilla was an āattackerā and āappropriatelyā removed him from the premises.
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