Senator Alex Padilla (D-CA), who appears to be a self-important crackpot, tried hysterically (without officially identifying himself) to push and shout his way to the podium of Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem on June 12. Despite being a 1994 M.I.T graduate, his embarrassing and outlandish behavior occurred while Noem was beginning a speech inside the Los Angeles FBI headquarters building, which was located fifteen miles west of downtown Los Angeles when she was condemning the recent riots and deplorable lack of mayoral and gubernatorial support for local law enforcement and especially ICE.
According to the New York Times, what greatly triggered Padilla’s anger to interrupt Noem’s press conference was when she stated, “federal agents were in Los Angeles “‘to liberate this city from the socialists and the burdensome leadership’” of the Democratic leaders of California and Los Angeles.”
My big question is how did Senator Padilla as a ranking member of the Senate Judiciary Committee’s Subcommittee on Immigration, Citizenship, and Border Safety even get inside the Los Angeles FBI headquarters without showing an approved or acceptable ID? It would have been impossible. Surely, he could have shown the same ID to Noem’s security before he began to push, shove, and interrupt her news conference?
Noem’s Secret Service security team had no knowledge of Padilla’s identity because he initially neither refused to officially identify himself nor present a business card. He also was neither wearing a name badge nor a Senate security pin on his black jacket lapel.
If Padilla had been a true senatorial gentleman full of decorum and civility as typically shown on C-SPAN, he should have courteously waited his turn in line along with the press to ask any questions after her news conference. However, Padilla deliberately decided to create a national publicity stunt or photo op, which deserved an “F” in histrionics.
Unfortunately, he instigated what Noem later described as “disrespectful political theatre” by lunging toward the podium while he “was told repeatedly to back away, and did not comply with officers repeated commands” (see video).
If a Republican senator had pushed and shouted his way to the podium like Padilla arrogantly did toward a female Democratic Secretary of Homeland Security, the outcry among many hypocritical Congressional Democrats would have been never-ending on both Capitol Hill and in the legacy media.
Unfortunately, Mayor Karen Bass (D) of Los Angeles, California Governor Gavin Newsom (D), and Senator Alex Padilla (D) all erroneously think that ICE agents are unwelcome Gestapo thugs, and the federal building in downtown Los Angeles never needed any protection. This is pure Democratic propaganda and fantasy because their neo-confederate sanctuary city policies in California completely contradict the rule of federal law in regard to immigration.
Predictably, the Secret Service and Noem’s security team physically forced Padilla out of the room and wrestled the self-important Padilla to the ground in an adjacent hallway while placing him on his abdomen and handcuffing him as a potential attacker (see video). The senator mistakenly thought that simply saying that he was “Senator Alex Padilla” gave him special courtesy unlike an average tax-paying American citizen, who would have been treated in the same manner.
Since June 12 Senator Padilla has greatly increased his national name recognition throughout the U.S. for all the wrong reasons courtesy of the New York Times, MSNBC, CNN, and other legacy media. Plus, I am certain that he especially realized before his confrontation with Noem’s Security team that his unnecessary staged antics would help him immensely on the lecture circuit and for future fundraising when he runs for reelection in 2028.
Unfortunately, the aftermath of his moment of shame made him look like he was above the law because law enforcement never charged him with a crime. Noem was even gracious enough to talk with him privately for ten to fifteen minutes after her press conference.
In retrospect, Senator Padilla should have made an appointment with Kristi Noem in either Los Angeles or Washington, D.C. before or after her press conference to discuss his political differences and other concerns. Instead, he performed a stupid stunt in protest of President Trump’s activation of the California National Guard including seven hundred Marines to protect the federal building in downtown Los Angeles after arresting numerous criminal illegal aliens for deportation.
As of June 20, the Senate still has not censured his inappropriate conduct.
If I had tried to push and shout my way to Kristi Noem’s podium in attempting to interrupt her press conference, I would have been charged with both disorderly conduct and resisting arrest. Then I would have been sent straight to jail, interrogated by the Secret Service, and forced to appear before a federal judge.
The Senate has only censured nine of its members since 1789 “for conduct that senators determined to be inappropriate or detrimental to the Senate.” Lachrymal Senator Alex Padilla should be the tenth one “for conduct unbecoming a senator” for his disruptive and criminal behavior in Los Angeles. Otherwise, this type of shocking and sickening behavior will only continue during the Trump administration, and most likely could become much worse irrespective of political party.
DHS spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin alleged Padilla did not identify himself before approaching the podium.
“Senator Padilla chose disrespectful political theatre and interrupted a live press conference without identifying himself or having his Senate security pin on as he lunged toward Secretary Noem,” she said in a post on X. “Mr. Padilla was told repeatedly to back away, and did not comply with officers’ repeated commands. @SecretService thought he was an attacker and officers acted appropriately.”
Robert L. Maronic