Democratic Sen. Alex Padilla forcefully removed from Noem's news conference, handcuffed
Los Angeles, Jun 13 (AP): Democratic US Sen. Alex Padilla on Thursday was forcefully removed from Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem's news conference in Los Angeles and handcuffed by officers as he tried to speak up about immigration raids that have led to protests in California and around the country.
Video shows a Secret Service agent on Noem's security detail grabbing Padilla, who represents California, by his jacket and shoving him from the room as he tried to interrupt Noem's news conference in Los Angeles.
"I'm Sen. Alex Padilla. I have questions for the secretary," he shouted in a halting voice.
Scuffling with officers outside the room, he can be heard bellowing, "Hands off!" He is later seen on his knees and then pushed to the ground and handcuffed in a hallway, with several officers atop him.
The shocking scene of a US senator being aggressively removed from a Cabinet secretary's news conference prompted immediate outrage from his Democratic colleagues. Images and video of the scuffle ricocheted through the halls of Congress, where stunned lawmakers demanded an immediate investigation and characterised the episode as another in a line of mounting threats to democracy by President Donald Trump's administration.
Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer said what he saw "sickened my stomach."
"We need immediate answers to what the hell went on," the New York senator said from the Senate floor. "It's despicable, it's disgusting, it's so un-American."
In a statement, the Department of Homeland Security said Padilla "chose disrespectful political theatre and interrupted a live news conference." They claimed erroneously that Padilla did not identify himself and said Secret Service believed him to be an attacker.
"Padilla was told repeatedly to back away and did not comply with officers' repeated commands," the statement said, adding that "officers acted appropriately."
Emerging afterward, Padilla said he was demanding answers about the Trump administration's "increasingly extreme immigration enforcement actions" from Noem when he was removed. He said he and his colleagues had received little to no response to their questions in recent weeks, so he attended the briefing for more information.
"If this is how this administration responds to a senator with a question.... I can only imagine what they are doing to farmworkers, to cooks, to day labourers throughout the Los Angeles community, and throughout California and throughout the country," he said.
Noem told Fox LA afterward that she had a "great" conversation with Padilla after the scuffle, but called his approach "something that I don't think was appropriate at all."
The fracas in Los Angeles came just days after Democratic US Rep. LaMonica McIver was indicted on federal charges alleging she assaulted and interfered with immigration officers outside a detention centre in New Jersey while Newark's mayor was being arrested after he tried to join a congressional oversight visit at the facility. Democrats have framed the charges as intimidation efforts by the Trump administration.
Padilla, the son of immigrants from Mexico, has been a harsh Trump critic and his mass deportations agenda. In a post on the social platform X, he said of recent federal immigration raids in Los Angeles, "Trump isn't targeting criminals in his mass deportation agenda, he is terrorising communities, breaking apart families and putting American citizens in harm's way."
Democratic senators quickly gathered in the Senate chamber denouncing the treatment of their colleague -- a well-liked and respected senator -- and urged Americans to understand what was happening.
"If this is how a United States senator can be treated, none of our constituents are safe," said Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., as colleagues gathered on the Senate floor to denounce the situation. "This is a test for the country."
Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., said Trump is making this country "look more and more like a fascist state."
"Will any Republican senator speak up for our democracy?" Warren pleaded.
Senate Republican leader John Thune said he wants to know the facts of the situation.
"Obviously we will have response," said Thune, R-SD, as he walked to his office at the US Capitol. "But I want to know the facts, find out exactly what happened."
Other Republicans had a more muted response, with some saying they had not yet seen the video.
The No. 2 Republican, Sen. John Barrasso of Wyoming, said he was unaware of what happened but said Padilla should have been at work in Washington.
The stark incident comes as Congress faces increasing episodes of encroachment on its authority. As a coequal branch of the US government, the Trump administration is exerting its executive powers in untested ways.
As part of their work in Congress, lawmakers are responsible for providing oversight of the administration, its agencies and actions.
Several senators and representatives have been exercising their oversight roles by surveying the treatment of immigrants and others being detained as part of the Trump administration's mass deportation operation.
From the steps of the US Capitol, Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries said what happened to Padilla "was un-American" and those involved must be held accountable.
"This is not going to end until there is accountability and until the Trump administration changes its behaviour," he said.
What just happened to @SenAlexPadilla is absolutely abhorrent and outrageous.
— Mayor Karen Bass (@MayorOfLA) June 12, 2025
He is a sitting United States Senator.
This administration’s violent attacks on our city must end.pic.twitter.com/qbh9ZPE8i9
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Iran''''s Mexico Embassy says Iran is negotiating with FIFA to move World Cup matches
Mexico City (AP): Iran's Embassy in Mexico on Tuesday said the country is negotiating with FIFA to move Iran's World Cup matches from the U.S. to Mexico after President Donald Trump discouraged the team from attending the tournament, citing safety concerns.
It was unclear whether such talks are happening with FIFA, which did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Iranian officials have previously said it is up to FIFA and the U.S. to keep the team safe during the World Cup.
The Embassy posted a statement attributed to Iranian soccer federation president Mehdi Taj saying Iran wants to move its group stage matches to Mexico to ensure the safety of players and officials.
“When Trump has explicitly stated that he cannot ensure the security of the Iranian national team, we will certainly not travel to America,” the statement said. “We are currently negotiating with FIFA to hold Iran's matches in the World Cup in Mexico.”
The World Cup is being co-hosted by the United States, Canada and Mexico. Iran is scheduled to play against New Zealand on June 16 and Belgium on June 21 in Inglewood, California, before finishing group play in Seattle against Egypt on June 26.
Moving the games would be unprecedented less than three months before the start of the World Cup.
Trump said last week that the Iran team was welcome at the World Cup despite the ongoing war in the Middle East but “I really don't believe it is appropriate that they be there, for their own life and safety.”
Iran has sent mixed signals about its participation in the tournament after the U.S. and Israel launched attacks that killed the Islamic republic's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and dozens of other senior figures.
Sports minister Ahmad Donyamali told state TV last week that it was not possible to play "due to the wicked acts they have done against Iran.”
But after Trump's post the national team said on Instagram that “no one can exclude” it from the tournament and a government spokesman in Tehran stressed in it was the responsibility of FIFA and the U.S. as a co-host nation to keep players safe and secure.
“FIFA is the organizer of the World Cup,” Iran Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmail Baghaei said. “When warnings are issued at the highest level about the environment being unsafe for Iranian football players, this indicates that the host country apparently lacks the capacity and ability to provide security for such an important sporting event.”
Soccer is followed passionately in Iran, a nation of more than 90 million people which has qualified for seven men's World Cups and each of the past four editions. The team is ranked No. 20 in the world by FIFA and behind only Japan from Asia.
FIFA has not commented in recent days beyond an Instagram post by president Gianni Infantino last week that he'd received assurances from Trump that Iran was welcome at the tournament.
