Padilla Claims Noem Is Lying — 'There Was No Threat, There Was No Lunging'

Sen. Alex Padilla (D-CA) said Thursday on MSNBC’s “The Beat” that Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem was lying about the events that led to him being forcibly removed after he interrupted a press conference.

Host Jacob Soboroff said, “We heard from you briefly at the press conference after you came outside of the federal building in Westwood. We’ve heard more extensively from Secretary Noem and the Department of Homeland Security. I want to just tell you a little bit, because I’m sure this has been a whirlwind about what they’ve been saying Secretary Noem said that you, quote, lunged towards her at this press conference. The Department of Homeland Security said the Secret Service believed that you were an attacker, and the Department of Homeland Security called this political theater. What’s your response and what’s your version of what happened?”

Padilla said, “Well, first of all, that’s ridiculous. It’s a lie, but par for the course for this administration, right? So here’s the stage. Look, I was in the federal building here in Los Angeles for a scheduled briefing.”

He added, “We’re the whole time being escorted in this federal building by somebody from the National Guard, somebody from the FBI. I’ve gone through screening. This is a federal building and so tell them, let’s go listen to the press conference. They escort me over to that room. I’m sitting in the back of the room, behind the cameras, behind the reporters, listening and at one point, it was just too much to take, not the first, but the second attack on the political leadership of California and this notion that Donald Trump and Kristi Noem have to come in and rescue the people of Los Angeles from Gavin Newsom and Karen Bass. It was too much and so I spoke up. I introduced myself and said I had a question. Look, they said I wasn’t wearing my polo, says United States Senate. There was no threat. There was no lunging. I raised my voice to ask a question, and it took, what, maybe half a second before multiple agents were on me.”

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