Sen. Alex Padilla (D-Calif.) said he was terrified last week when federal agents roughed him up and handcuffed him after he “attempted to ask” a question at Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem’s press conference in Los Angeles.But upon reflection, he’s said he’s pretty sure it only happened because the Trump administration keeps racking up losses and is desperate to distract Americans with a show of power.Padilla made his case on the floor of the U.S. Senate Tuesday, where he addressed the body for the first time since being assaulted Thursday and discussed the details leading up to that moment.The California Democrat repeatedly emphasized that he didn’t attend Noem’s press conference intending to make a scene, nor did he just waltz in and blurt out a question. He said was already in the building for a separate meeting, and, since that meeting had been delayed by Noem’s press conference down the hall, he decided to listen in.“I didn’t just get up and go,” he said. “I asked. And was escorted by a national guardsman and an FBI agent into the press conference. They opened the door for me. They accompanied me into the press briefing room, and they stood next to me as I stood there a while, listening.”Padilla said he asked a question ― or at least attempted to ― after being stonewalled by DHS for “months and months” as he sought answers, all while “they’re literally militarizing our city.”“But before I could even get out my question, I was physically and aggressively forced out of the room, even as I repeatedly announced I was a U.S. senator and I had a question for the secretary,” he said, adding, “You’ve seen the video.”In that moment, face down on the ground in handcuffs, Padilla said he worried about how a city already inflamed from being militarized might respond to seeing the televised assault. He said he also worried about his wife and kids and he worried about where they might be taking him.Then he concluded that to combat President Donald Trump, more people, especially politicians, need to forcefully speak up and assert their standing as a co-equal branch of government.“If a United States senator becomes too afraid to speak up, how can we expect any other American to do the same?” Padilla asked his colleagues. “Last week was a warning shot. I pray it also serves as a wakeup call.”The next time Trump has a rough stretch of public losses, he’ll return to the same old playbook, Padilla predicted.Trump had been “drowning in a week of terrible headlines,” Padilla said, pointing out that Americans began to realize the president’s “big, beautiful bill” will increase the deficit by $2.4 trillion while cutting social services and enriching billionaires. Padilla also said Trump started losing his tariff wars, his promises to end Russia’s war on Ukraine fell flat, he racked up loss after loss in federal court and he endured an embarrassing public breakup with Elon Musk.“When Donald Trump is having a bad week, he turns to the same, tired playbook he always has,” Padilla said. “When in doubt, scapegoat immigrants and manufacture a crisis to distract the media from what’s going on.“That’s the reason ICE raids ramped up in California. And when Californians took to the streets to peacefully protest, he bypassed the governor and federalized the national guard,” Padilla added. “As things began to settle, he escalated even further by sending in the Marines. He wants the spectacle.”Padilla thinks the answer is more — and bigger — protests.“Keep peacefully protesting,” he urged from the dais. “There’s nothing more patriotic than to peacefully protest for your rights. Because no one’s going to liberate los Angeles but Angelenos. No one will redeem America but Americans. No one is coming to save us, but us.“If this administration is this afraid of just one senator with a question, colleagues, imagine what the voices of tens of millions of Americans peacefully protesting can do.”