Forcibly removed and handcuffed
Alex Padilla, a Democratic California senator and vocal critic of the Trump administration’s immigration policies, was forcibly removed and handcuffed as he attempted to ask a question at a press conference held by Kristi Noem, the homeland security secretary, in Los Angeles on Thursday.
That is, a Democratic US Senator from California. I thought at first he was a state senator, but the Guardian clarified halfway in. (That’s my passive-aggressive way of saying the Guardian should have made it clear from the beginning.)
In video taken of the incident that has since gone viral on social media, Padilla is seen being restrained and removed from the room by Secret Service and FBI agents.
“I’m Senator Alex Padilla. I have questions for the secretary,” Padilla shouts, as he struggles to move past against the men pushing him back toward the exit. “Hands off!” Padilla says at least three times. Outside the room, he is pinned to the floor and placed in handcuffs.
A US Senator. Because he asked questions.
The coup is going faster and faster.
“If this is how this administration responds to a senator with a question, if this is how the DHS responds to a senator with a question, you can only imagine what they’re doing to farm workers, to cooks, to day laborers, throughout the LA community and throughout California and throughout the country,” Padilla, the son of immigrants from Mexico, told reporters. “We will hold this administration accountable.”
We’ll try, and then they’ll imprison or kill us.
“I am shocked by how far we have descended in the first 140 days of this administration,” Adam Schiff, the junior senator from California said in a speech from the Senate floor shortly after viewing the video of the incident. “What is becoming of our democracy? Are there no limits to what this administration will do? Is there no line they will not cross?”
No. There are no limits to what this administration will do. There is no line they will not cross. We’ll be at Auschwitz within months.
H/t What a Maroon
