California’s U.S. Sen. Alex Padilla was forcibly removed from a news conference held by Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and other Trump administration officials Thursday morning.

“I am Sen. Alex Padilla. I have questions for the secretary,” the Democratic senator said as he was being pushed out of the room by multiple people.

He was not detained or arrested, Padilla later said, speaking to reporters.

“If this is how the administration responds to a senator with a question, if this is how the Department of Homeland Security responds to a senator with a question, you can only imagine what they’re doing to farmworkers, to cooks, to day laborers throughout the Los Angeles community, throughout California, and throughout the country,” Padilla said. “We will hold this administration accountable. We’ll have more to say in the coming days.”

Video showed Padilla kneeling on the ground after being removed from the room before officers push him to the ground and handcuff him with his arms behind his back.

Noem continued to speak from the federal building on the Westside of Los Angeles, several miles from downtown Los Angeles, where the large immigration protests have been taking place.

Padilla’s office said he was in the federal building “to receive a briefing with General Guillot and was listening to Secretary Noem’s press conference.”

He said he tried to ask Noem a question, peacefully, but was forcibly removed.

Noem, meanwhile, standing alongside acting ICE Director Todd Lyons, said federal immigration enforcement efforts are going to continue in the area.

“We are not going away,” Noem said. “We are staying here to liberate the city from the socialist and the burdensome leadership that this governor and this mayor have placed on this country and this city.”

Noem alleged that federal buildings were surrounded by more than 1,000 “violent rioters” on the night of June 6, adding that it took the Los Angeles Police Department more than two hours to respond.

“So we are going to continue to operate with our federal partners and continue to keep asking the governor and the mayor for their support and their backup in these operations to make sure that all of our law enforcement officers are protected while they do their work,” she said.

“We’re going to protect American cities from lawlessness, and we’ll do what it takes to put American citizens first,” she said.

When asked by reporters, Noem said she stayed “close” to downtown when she got into town. She said she spent Thursday morning in various parts of the Los Angeles area while out “on operations” with law enforcement.

She was spotted by the New York Times accompanying federal immigration enforcement officers during a search at a home in Huntington Park earlier in the morning.

Meanwhile, California Democrats quickly came to Padilla’s defense.

Newsom said the senator is “one of the most decent people I know.”

“This is outrageous, dictatorial and shameful,” Gov. Gavin Newsom said. “Trump and his shock troops are out of control. This must end now.”

“This is totally unacceptable,” said Rep. Mike Levin, D-San Juan Capistrano. “Senator Alex Padilla has been my friend for over 20 years — a decent, honorable public servant and a proud son of the American dream. I stand with him fully as we demand accountability and transparency.”

L.A. Mayor Karen Bass said, “This administration’s violent attacks on our city must end.”

At least one Republican also defended Padilla: Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska. She told reporters the video she watched was “horrible.”

“It is shocking at every level,” Murkowski said. “It’s not the America I know.”

Padilla, 52, became California’s first Latino U.S. senator in 2021, when he was appointed to the seat after Kamala Harris became the vice president.

Padilla is the son of Mexican immigrants who settled the family in a working-class San Fernando Valley neighborhood. His father rose from dishwasher to short-order cook while his mother cleaned houses.

Padilla found his way to MIT, where he went from engineer to the L.A. City Council, and from there to the Legislature and from there to becoming the state’s elections chief, responsible for administering the 2020 election, the first to include mail-in ballots to all registered voters.

Speaking to reporters when leaving the federal building, Noem accused Padilla of “lunging” during the news conference without identifying himself. Video does show Padilla stating his name.

She also said the two did speak following the news conference and exchanged phone numbers for further conversations.

Noem also said she has left voicemails for Newsom, who she said has not returned her calls.

“The governor spoke with the president directly on Friday and had multiple exchanges with the DHS secretary’s boss, Susie Wiles,” Diana Crofts-Pelayo, a spokesperson for Newsom, said when asked about Noem’s voice mails.

About a dozen journalists who showed up to cover the administration’s news conference were not allowed to enter Thursday morning.

Ryan Carter contributed to this report.