US Senator detained and cuffed at DHS press conference

agree. We don’t need our leaders physically forcing their way to center stage. It makes him and his cause (whatever that is) look bad. imagine if more leaders did this.

Btw, interesting how that dude a head shorter and 50 lbs lighter just shoved him out.

 

If Kristi Noem said it it probably means that Padilla's description is accurate.

 

I'm still waiting for gtr2x to bring in links to republicans acting this way at dem pressers. Still not holding my breath.

 

The difference between the Democrats and the Republicans is that the Democrats were willing to accept the fact that they lost the 2024 election. The overwhelming majority of Republicans still accept the false narrative of their Dear Leader a malignant narcissist who is incapable of accepting the fact that he lost free and fair election in 2020.

 

Incorrect. We all lost.

 

Waiting for @ETGator1 to show a dem presser in which a member of the audience who questioned the speaker was cuffed and dragged out of the room because the speaker and her/his supporters were embarrassed by the question.

 

well the dems sorta accepted the results but all they have done since is lob shit at Trump trying to cause him to have to spend way too much time on it to properly govern- you were somewhat successful in 2016-20 - don’t think it is going to work this time

 

Several things here.
1. There is a Office of Protocol at DHS that if Padilla wanted a pass to the PC, his office could have called and asked for one. That way Noem's PSD would know he was coming and who he was. He did not do that, so you have to ask why?

2. Noem's PSD had no clue who he was or why he was approaching here. Announcing that he is a Senator is not enough. The PSD was not briefed he was going to be there and they probably could not have picked up out of line up before today, like a lot posters on this board. So that could have been a crazy person trying to say they were a Senator to get close to Noem to harm her. So all the PSD sees is someone that is not supposed to be there approaching the Head of DHS when there have been riots and craziness in the area and they executed their assigned duties. Get the threat away from the Noem.

3. The PSD had likely swept the room, checked everyone in it, and considered it secure. When an unknown person walks in and starts shouting, it is now unsecure and the PSD has to act quickly and do what they are trained to do.

4. Noem could not have stopped it as the PSD is completely in charge at a moment like that. The PSD is focused on getting the threat away from the Secretary and securing her safety.

 

Insurrection you say? Like this?

 

If a Republican senator had tried to do the same thing, in the same situation, to a Democratic Head of DHS, in the same environment, the results would have been the same. Padilla has been in the Senate for 4 years, he knows how Protocol works to speak with a Cabinet Secretary.

 

Yes, except for one day compared to every day, every month, and every year going all the way back to when Trump announced for president in 2015, 10 years.

 

So I can bust into a press conference, claim to be a US Senator and the cops and FBI should stand back and let me approach the podium?

 

Yes. Please film it.

 

Typical response from the left on this forum.
We are losing this discussion but your president the Orange God is a convicted felon and sex offender.

 

He said he was there for another meeting and heard she was having a press conference and decided to go. No time for your protocol. As an aside I find it humorous that this administration would actually follow protocol. That has rarely been the case so far.

Secondly, I buy the security initial response to stop his progress, but I don't buy that taking the senator to the ground and handcuffing him was necessary.

No one knew he was the senior senator from California?? Before that he was the California's secretary of state for several years.. He is not some newby. Given the attention California gets from maga it is hard to believe Noem didn't know who he was. If that is really true that is pretty poor prep on her part imo.

 

First, there is a reason every Cabinet Secretary has an Office of Protocol, it is to arrange meetings between principals with Members of Congress, other Cabinet Secretaries, and dignitaries. It also allows the PSD a heads up that such and such person is going to be there and know who they are when they show up.

Second, if there was not time to go through Protocol, do not enter into a secure room. Send a member of your staff to wait outside the room and tell Noem's staff that the senior Senator from California is in the building and want to speak with her. Or send a member of your staff to knock on the door and tell Noem's PSD and staff that the Senator is in the building and would like to attended the PC. Do not enter a secure room with a Cabinet Secretary unannounced and start shouting.

Third, could you have picked Padilla out of a line up before today? Do you think Noem's PSD could have? They are supposed to know every signal member of Congress by sight and be able to recognize them immediately when they enter a secure room and start moving towards the Secretary? That is not how this actually works. Until they could verify his identity, he was considered a threat and had to be treated as such.

 

From what I heard he was not wearing his security pin which would have identified him as a member of congress. Once they confirmed who he was the handcuffs were taken off

 

Yep, I knew who he was. I also know who my Senators and governor are and I live in Fla. Further I would expect a cabinet member to know the senators of the state she is speaking in given the current firestorm in LA, but that's just me I guess.

I don't necessarily expect the security to know who he is.but it's pretty hard to believe no one in that room knew who he was , especially Noem after he identified himself. If he hadn't identified himself your post would have merit. Taking him down and handcuffing him was uncalled for.

 

He didn’t barge into the room. He walked into the room, which was in the Federal Building in L.A. He did interrupt Noem (which he shouldn’t have done) as she literally was talking about how the socialists, the mayor and the governor were trying to destroy California, and she wasn’t going to let it happen. He wasn’t yelling questions, but he was interrupting Noem with a question. He was immediately grabbed by FBI and other security, at which point he clearly stated more than once that he was Senator Alex Padilla. He was dragged out of the room into a hallway, thrown down on his face, arms yanked behind his back and handcuffed. He could have been seriously injured. This behavior by the FBI and other security shouldn’t have happened to the lowliest reporter who was interrupting, yet alone a Senator.

 

If the PSD did not know who he was and was not expecting him, they had no way of knowing he was not a crazy person there to try and harm the Secretary after he barged into a secure room unannounced. The idea that he "identified himself" is not realistic in that situation. They had to secure him and figure out who he was, which in a situation like that where he was actively pushing back on the PSD, would likely require handcuffing him.