President Donald Trump’s administration is under fire after Sen. Alex Padilla was forcibly removed, manhandled and handcuffed after trying to ask a question at a press conference with Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem.
Padilla, a Democrat from California, attempted to ask Noem about immigration raids, prompting at least two men to approach him and push him out of the room, where he was then handcuffed.
The incident comes after tensions exploded in Los Angeles over the weekend after Trump deployed National Guard troops to counter protesters who had flooded the downtown area to demonstrate against Immigrations and Customs Enforcement and the Trump administration’s heavy handed mass deportation campaign.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom said he was suing the Trump administration due to what he described as an overreach of power in deploying the National Guard.
“Commandeering a state’s National Guard without consulting the Governor of that state is illegal and immoral,” Newsom, a Democrat, told MSNBC.
