Democratic Texas Rep. Jasmine Crockett said during a Wednesday podcast that she “literally” cried when watching footage of the forcible removal of Democratic California Sen. Alex Padilla from a June press conference held by Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Kristi Noem.
Padilla disrupted Noem’s remarks, leading security to forcibly remove him from the room; he ended up face down on the floor in handcuffs just outside of the room. Crockett, on “Hasan Minhaj Doesn’t Know,” recalled how she “had no warning whatsoever” about what happened before watching it on television in another House member’s office, where she said the incident played repeatedly.
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“I literally just broke down in tears and started crying — because it is hard for me to imagine. Even just looking at Senator Padilla, this is the first Latino senator that the state of California has ever had,” Crockett said. “He is the senior senator in that state … And then there is no respect, not like a modicum of respect for him, nor his position, nor his humanity.”
“You would think that you wouldn’t do this to anybody, let alone a senator. But it tells you, like, how sinister this administration is,” she added. “And like he said — and he said it almost through tears — imagine what they’re doing to people that aren’t senators. Imagine what they’re doing to that dishwasher, that landscaper, that farmer.”
Noem was discussing Los Angeles riots when Padilla started to shout a question at her. Security quickly rushed to the senator and told him to put his hands up, which he refused to do, resisting as they escorted him from the room.
After pushing Padilla out of the conference room, the senator was directed to lie on his stomach as he was handcuffed.
Others have acted dramatically to the Padilla incident, including MSNBC anchor Nicolle Wallace, who claimed on “Pod Save America” in June that Padilla’s ejection was “one of the bleakest days” of her entire anchoring career.
“I think it’s a chilling moment,” Wallace added.
Assistant Secretary of Homeland Security for Public Affairs Tricia McLaughlin condemned Padilla for his conduct in an X post following the incident, alleging he was “disrespectful” and “lunged toward Secretary Noem” while neglecting to identify himself as a senator.
“Mr. Padilla was told repeatedly to back away and did not comply with officers’ repeated commands,” McLaughlin wrote. “@SecretService thought he was an attacker and officers acted appropriately.”
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