In June 2025, a claim circulated that U.S. Sen. Alex Padilla, a Democrat from California, hadn't identified himself before interrupting Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem to ask her a question at a news conference.
As Noem was speaking about the confrontations between anti-ICE protesters and law enforcement in Los Angeles, Padilla tried to speak and was blocked, forced out of the room and handcuffed by federal agents. Democrats were outraged that a sitting U.S. senator would be forcibly removed from a public news conference.
Noem later spoke on Fox News, saying Padilla had failed to identify himself before he approached her and that was the reason the agents pounced. She then shared a clip of the incident on her X account (archived):
Noem's post had received 1.3 million views and 50,000 likes as of this writing. Others who posted, including the X account of the Department of Homeland Security (archived), further relayed the claim that Padilla hadn't identified himself before he was tackled.
Although video of the incident was recorded on more than one phone camera, the first recordings Snopes reviewed weren't clear or complete enough to confirm whether he did or didn't identify himself at the outset. Fox News streamed the briefing live from a federal building in Los Angeles. Five minutes into that video, the camera turns to the right side of the room to film Padilla being pushed away from the stage where Noem is standing:
As the agents remove him, Padilla is heard clearly stating "I am Senator Alex Padilla" and attempting to ask a question. Noem continues speaking without acknowledging the interruption, allowing the men to take Padilla out of the room and into the adjoining corridor, where he was pushed to the ground and handcuffed.
NBC reporter Jack Soboroff shared a video shot closer to Padilla (archived):
Again, however, the incident occurred very quickly and it wasn't possible to determine from these videos exactly what Padilla said before he was grabbed by the security detail.
We contacted Padilla's team asking if he had identified himself before stepping to the side of the press pool, near the wall, and walking up to the stage to address Noem directly. We asked if there was any possibility Noem and her security team were confused about who Padilla was. In a phone interview, a spokesperson for Padilla who was present during the incident and had filmed the video shown by NBC said Padilla did identify himself once before he was pushed away from the stage.
However, in an Associated Press video subsequently reviewed by Snopes, the audio is clear enough to hear Padilla's first words: "Secretary, I want to know why you insist on exaggerating and embellishing ..." As federal agents grabbed him, Padilla exclaimed, "Sir! Sir! Hands off!" And as they began pushing him toward the door, he shouted, "I am Sen. Alex Padilla ..."
Snopes reached out to Padilla's aide again for a statement about the AP video and asked once again if it was possible Noem and her team hadn't known who Padilla was. The spokesperson replied in a text message:
There is absolutely no way that she was not aware that the Senator was present. The entire floor was locked down and no one was unaccounted for, especially in that room. I've done multiple events with POTUS and other high ranking officials and I can tell you that Secret Service does not allow anyone to be present without verifying and approving first. In this video you can also see a blonde lady in a black suit. She was the FBI personnel escorting the Senator around the building, floor and into the room and never left our side even as the Senator was being walked down the hall in handcuffs. The very same FBI agents that ended up handcuffing the Senator were the ones who identified him in the hallway and opened the door for him to let him into the press conference. And I believe I mentioned this last time too, Corey Lewandowski, who is the Secretary's top advisor, was the one who ran after us to ask the agents to remove the handcuffs from the Senator and offered the Noem meeting.
Later, in other interviews, Padilla provided more context about his presence at the press briefing. He also disputed claims that he had not identified himself. He explained he had sought to meet Noem and other DHS officials for weeks before this incident, to no avail. He said he had obtained approval from DHS to access the same federal building where the press briefing occurred. He was scheduled to meet there with "representatives of the Northern Command," including Gen. Gregory Guillot, according to Padilla's spokesperson. That briefing was going to be delayed as some of those who were to take part were in fact in the room where Noem was speaking. The whole floor was locked, the spokesperson said, adding they had to be escorted to the bathroom.
Padilla said when he became aware that Noem was holding a news briefing, he asked to attend and was escorted by the member of FBI personnel and a staffer of the National Guard to the room where Noem was speaking. FBI agents standing outside the room let him in. "It's unfathomable to me that they didn't know who he was," Padilla's spokesperson said.
Minutes later, according to the spokesperson, Padilla walked up to the stage and introduced himself, seeking to ask a question. When the security agents began to push Padilla, the spokesperson immediately started recording a video. Padilla can be heard introducing himself a second time on that video, the aide said.
In the NBC interview, Padilla added that although he was not wearing his Senate security pin, he was wearing a shirt with the logo of the Senate, which he suggested should have left no doubt about the political office he holds.
Padilla was then pushed into the hallway, pushed to the floor and handcuffed, all of which appeared on the staffer's video. Another agent then reached over and put his hands on the phone to stop the recording. They were escorted down the hall with Padilla in handcuffs.