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Democratic Senator Alex Padilla raised his voice at a press conference hosted by US Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, but the Secret Service stopped him.
The video is making the rounds around the world, and it shows footage of the secret service stopping the senator, even laying him on the ground, just like in ordinary cases of arrest.
So what happened?
Alex Padilla, US Senator: "Hands off! I'm Senator Alex Padilla. I have a question for the Secretary. The fact is..."
Here, a Democratic US senator is taken away by security forces - and later even handcuffed.
Secret Service employees: "Stand with your back to me."
On Thursday, Republican US Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem spoke at a press conference about the ongoing protests in Los Angeles against US President Trump's migration policy and harshly attacked Democrats in the city's administration.
Kristi Noem, US Secretary of Homeland Security: "We remain here to liberate this city from the socialist and oppressive leadership that this governor and this mayor have imposed on this country."
At that moment, Alex Padilla - the son of Mexican immigrants and born in Los Angeles - begins to ask aloud about a series of photographs.
The officers escort him out of the room and handcuff him. Noem reacts to the incident.
Kristi Noem, US Secretary of Homeland Security: "You know, I don't even know the senator. He hasn't asked to meet with me or talk to me. When I'm done here, I'm going to talk to him and find out what his concerns really were."
After the incident, the Department of Homeland Security stated that the Secret Service thought it was an attacker and therefore acted "appropriately."
Padilla spoke again afterwards.
Alex Padilla, US senator: "If this administration answers a senator's question this way, if the Department of Homeland Security answers a senator's question this way, one can only imagine how they treat farmworkers, cooks and workers in Los Angeles, all across California and all across the country."
Alex Padilla has served in the U.S. Senate since 2021. He was appointed to replace Kamala Harris. Senators are the most powerful politicians in the U.S. legislature and enjoy a special position, so the incident is unusual.
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