Esquire: Somehow Republicans Are Defending Kristi Noem After the Forceful Removal of Senator Alex Padilla

I thought assaulting someone holding federal office was a crime. Not anymore, apparently.

So, apparently we’re bum-rushing US senators now. From The Guardian:

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 agents.“I’m Senator Alex Padilla. I have questions for the secretary,” Padilla shouts, as he struggles to move past the men removing him from the premises. “Hands off!” he says at one point.Emerging afterward, Padilla, who is the ranking member of the judiciary subcommittee on immigration, citizenship and border safety, said he and his colleagues had repeatedly asked DHS for more information on its “increasingly extreme immigration enforcement actions” but had not received a response to his inquiries.

This tinhorn governor of a state where nobody lives, this puppy-murdering hack whose political career outside of MAGA World was as dead as Custer, now gets to sic her black-shirted thugs on the senior senator of a state that she and her criminal boss and all their attendant lords have been lying about, and about which she had flown to Los Angeles to lie about some more.

Dumbass in a ballcap says what? She just admitted they’re blowing up the town to get rid of the mayor and governor. If the courts ever get their teeth back, this gaffe will figure prominently in many filings.

Meanwhile, Padilla is hauled into a backroom and driven to the floor and handcuffed.

And not for nothing, but threatening and/or assaulting the holder of any federal office is a felony and could draw you five to ten in the pokey. And these goons are pretty identifiable.

And, of course, the administration’s prevarication mill went into full operation almost instantly. From The New Republic via Yahoo:

In posts on X, the official DHS account and Assistant DHS Secretary Tricia McLaughlin released a statement attempting to justify wrestling Padilla to the ground and handcuffing him. “Senator Padilla chose disrespectful political theatre and interrupted a live press conference without identifying himself or having his Senate security pin on as he lunged toward Secretary Noem,” the statement read.

Tricia learned to lie like this at the AEI’s Leadership Institute.

But in a video of the altercation from Padilla’s office, the senator could be heard clearly identifying himself. “Hands off! I’m Senator Alex Padilla, and I have questions for the secretary,” said the California Democrat as a security guard pushed him out of the room.

It’s clear that the goons looked at him and just saw another angry brown face. And by their reactions, Tricia and her boss are similarly afflicted.

This is also all my bollocks. Noem knows who Padilla is and, if she doesn’t, she should, and he did identify himself. Third-rate hack with a fourth-rate alibi.

And what about Speaker Moses? What did you expect?

That sanctimonious sumbitch wants Padilla censured. And he spent the afternoon hiding. If he’s a Christian, I’m an Ostrogoth.

The day was not without its burlesque, however. In a House Oversight Committee hearing, Rep. Maxwell Frost asked Chairman James (Jughead) Comer to issue a subpoena for Noem regarding the events of the day. Comer, of course, refused, probably because Padilla was not carrying Hunter Biden’s laptop at the time. And then we were off.

https://www.esquire.com/news-politics/politics/a65058840/senator-padilla-kristi-noem-james-comer-marjorie-taylor-greene

Independent: US citizen blasts ICE after being detained as he drove to work: ‘They’re the criminals’

ICE and Homeland Security agents forced Elzon Lemus out of his car and detained him for between 20-25 minutes, apparently based solely on his appearance

A New Yorker who was stopped and detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents says he was treated like a criminal for simply existing as a Hispanic person in the U.S.

“[ICE] said that they’re looking for criminals, but in reality, they’re the criminals,” Elzon Lemus, a 23-year-old from Brentwood, told reporters during a Thursday press conference.

Lemus, an electrician, was riding in the passenger seat of a car on his way to work when ICE agents stopped the vehicle in Westbury, New York. The ICE agents reportedly said that Lemus “looks like somebody we are looking for.”

He asked “who are you looking for exactly, because it’s definitely not me.” Much of his interaction with ICE was captured on cellphone video.

After the car was stopped, Lemus says he was surrounded by ICE and Homeland Security Investigations vehicles. The agents then threatened him and demanded his ID.

“This is going to go one of two ways here. I need to see your ID — if you’re not the guy I’m looking for, you’re not the guy I’m looking for. But we need your ID,” the ICE agent says in the video.

Lemus said he demanded the agents’ name and badge number, but they refused to provide any identifying information, claiming they were “not authorized” to do so.

“I told them that I’m not authorized to give my ID then,” Lemus said.

An ICE agent threatened him again.

“If we don’t get your ID we are going to need to figure out another way to ID you and that may not work out well for you,” the agent said.

Lemus was then placed in handcuffs for refusing to provide identification to the ICE agents. He said he was hesitant to cooperate because he hadn’t committed any crimes, and he knew the federal agents were not local police, NBC 4 reports.

“I didn’t want to get my ID because as soon as I saw how they were dressed, I knew they weren’t police officers. I didn’t commit a crime and wasn’t driving,” he said.

The ICE agents allegedly left Lemus in cuffs for 20-25 minutes, and confiscated his phone to prevent him from filming them. They eventually found his ID in his pockets.

“It was heartbreaking … it felt like my rights were just out the window,” Lemus said.

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/us-citizen-detained-ice-criminals-new-york-b2769786.html

Alternate: Trump ‘made a mockery of all of us’: MAGA devotees revolt over foreign policy about-face

Politico reports President Donald Trump’s own MAGA devotees warned him of Israel’s penchant for military escalation. Now the retaliation is setting in.

“The White House claims it played no part in the strikes on Tehran’s nuclear facilities Thursday night,” says Politico. Tehran was even slated to meet with U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff over the weekend for peace talks, but now the U.S. is in a precarious place considering it unilaterally funds nearly a third of Israel’s military machine. Israeli Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu’s strike also threatens to pull the U.S. deeper into Middle East conflict  to the chagrin of a huge swathe of Trump’s MAGA base.

Politico reports President Donald Trump’s own MAGA devotees warned him of Israel’s penchant for military escalation. Now the retaliation is setting in.

“The White House claims it played no part in the strikes on Tehran’s nuclear facilities Thursday night,” says Politico. Tehran was even slated to meet with U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff over the weekend for peace talks, but now the U.S. is in a precarious place considering it unilaterally funds nearly a third of Israel’s military machine. Israeli Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu’s strike also threatens to pull the U.S. deeper into Middle East conflict  to the chagrin of a huge swathe of Trump’s MAGA base.

You cast your lot with a tyrant; now you are getting what you paid for! 😀

https://www.alternet.org/trump/trump-made-a-mockery-of-all-of-us-maga-already-pouncing-trumps-weakness-over-strikes

Mediaite: CNN’s Erin Burnett Asks Padilla If Trump DHS Chief’s Agents Jacked Him Up ‘Because of How You Look?’

On Thursday night’s edition of CNN’s OutFront, Burnett picked up on a comment from CNN commentator Xochitl Hinojosa, and asked Padilla if his race had anything to do with the heavy-handed response:

BURNETT: I don’t know if you just heard what Xochitl was saying. She was saying that what she finds so unsettling as a Hispanic woman is that she feels that this happened to you because of how you look. And that as one of two sitting senators from California, those — those Secret Service agents would have known exactly who you were. And in fact, after you started talking, you said, “I’m Senator Alex Padilla”, and you said it multiple times.

Do you think that it was because of how you look?

SEN. ALEX PADILLA (D-CA): Look, I don’t know what the motives are. I think the point is this, Erin, and as I said, when I — when I came out of the building a little while after the incident, if this can happen to me, a United States senator representing the state of California, if this is how the Department of Homeland Security and the people around the secretary will treat a United States senator for having the audacity to ask a question, then imagine what they can do — imagine what they are doing to people in communities, not just throughout Los Angeles, but throughout the country.

Law & Crime: ‘Doesn’t speak with precision about things sometimes’: DOJ attorney offers mixed praise for Trump’s communication skills during Abrego Garcia hearing

An attorney with the U.S. Department of Justice offered some mixed praise of President Donald Trump‘s communication skills during a previously secret hearing in the Kilmar Abrego Garcia case.

A transcript of the hearing was recently released, in redacted form and limited fashion, by U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis, a Barack Obama appointee, in response to a motion to unseal several documents in the case filed by multiple news organizations.

While the transcript is not yet available on the public court docket, The New York Times’ Alan Feuer obtained a copy of the document and posted a notable snippet of an exchange between the judge and DOJ attorney Jonathan Guynn in a post on X (formerly Twitter).

“President Trump is you know, is a master messenger in many ways, but he also doesn’t speak with precision about things sometimes,” the government lawyer said. “And I think that this might be one of those situations where perhaps his comments were based on what he was recalling may have been the state of play previously.”

While the transcript is not yet available on the public court docket, The New York Times’ Alan Feuer obtained a copy of the document and posted a notable snippet of an exchange between the judge and DOJ attorney Jonathan Guynn in a post on X (formerly Twitter).

“President Trump is you know, is a master messenger in many ways, but he also doesn’t speak with precision about things sometimes,” the government lawyer said. “And I think that this might be one of those situations where perhaps his comments were based on what he was recalling may have been the state of play previously.”

The DOJ lawyer’s remarks came amid a discussion about the 45th and 47th president’s ability to have Abrego Garcia brought back stateside.

Until the Maryland man was abruptly returned earlier this month, the official position of the government was that the U.S. simply no longer had control of the situation. Attorney after attorney, in courtroom after courtroom, insisted the decision rested with officials in El Salvador.

Xinis appeared suspicious of this claim, based on an April 29 interview of Trump by since-fired ABC News anchor Terry Moran. During that interview, Trump said he “could” just pick up the phone and have the Salvadoran president return Abrego Garcia to the U.S. But, Trump added, “we have lawyers that don’t want to do this.”

The hearing was the very next day — and part of Guynn’s job was cleaning up Trump’s statement, which flatly contradicted the DOJ’s position.

Xinis was not, however, the only judge to be struck by Trump’s admission about Abrego Garcia during the ABC News interview.

During a May 7 hearing in the initial Alien Enemies Act case before U.S. District Judge James Boasberg, a jurist who got his start under George W. Bush and was then promoted by Barack Obama, the president’s words were put directly to DOJ attorney Abhishek Kambli.

“Is the president not telling the truth, or could he secure the release of Mr. Abrego Garcia?” Boasberg asked the government lawyer.

The DOJ attorney tried to sidestep the question by launching into a broader argument about the government’s case. But he was quickly brought back on track by Boasberg, who interjected to say he wanted his questions answered first….

Click the links below for more mumbo jumbo from Trumpski & his attorneys:

The Hill: Homan says Trump administration to ramp up workplace immigration enforcement

The Nebraska business owner whose facility was raided by ICE on Tuesday said he’s worked to ensure that employees are legally in the United States by checking their identity with E-Verify, a system managed by the Department of Homeland Security. 

However, officials told him the system was “broken” after the raid, which left him clueless on how to properly process individuals who’ve applied for employment.

“I mean, what am I supposed to do with that? This is your system, run by the government. And you’re raiding me because your system is broken?” Chad Hartmann, president of Glenn Valley Foods, told The Associated Press

ICE officials told him they’d help him figure out the best method for hiring …

“Best method” until the next raid? ICE could probably care less.

https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/5347195-homan-says-trump-administration-to-ramp-up-workplace-immigration-enforcement

Rolling Stone: ‘L.A. Was Not on Fire’: Angelenos Speak on Trump’s ICE Raids and ‘Escalation’

Several Angelenos talked to Rolling Stone to dispel Trump’s bluster about the recent protests against ICE and his militarized crackdown

Last week, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers swarmed Southern California in concentrated raids of undocumented citizens that are still ongoing. Thousands of protesters have taken to the streets in Los Angeles (and in solidarity nationwide), giving President Donald Trump an excuse to send National Guard troops last weekend and move to deploy Marines to L.A.. 

Trump baselessly implied the protesters are “paid insurrectionists” during a press conference where he revealed he told California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) that “He’s doing a bad job, causing a lot of death and a lot of potential death. If we didn’t send out the National Guard – and last time, we gave him a little additional help – Los Angeles would be burning right now.” (No one has died during the L.A. protests.) 

Newsom has said the “chaotic” sweeps “to meet an arbitrary arrest quota are as reckless as they are cruel,” and that, “Donald Trump’s chaos is eroding trust, tearing families apart, and undermining the workers and industries that power America’s economy.” On June 10, L.A. Mayor Karen Bass (D) instituted an 8 p.m. curfew in downtown L.A. 

Rolling Stone spoke with several on-the-ground Angelenos, who dispute the notion that L.A.’s “on fire” or being overrun by vandals. 

Katharine Shropshire is the board chair of the grassroots organization Community Coalition. She says the Trump administration and allied politicians are spewing propaganda that inflames tension between citizens and law enforcement. 

“When you have federal national leaders from this administration talking about arresting our mayor, arresting our governor, when you have the president himself using the kind of rhetoric describing a reality that is nothing like what is happening on the ground right now, it just increases the tension,” she says. “Nothing here that they’re doing is about de-escalation. It is all about escalating a confrontation with the people of Los Angeles.”

https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-features/los-angeles-not-on-fire-trump-ice-protests-national-guard-1235363990

Raw Story: ‘Dystopian’: Expert slams ICE for demanding attorney ‘make a Sophie’s Choice’

A prominent immigration expert was horrified at the latest report on how Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers are going about their jobs.

The incident, caught on an Instagram reel, took place in San Diego, California, at a courthouse where numerous people awaited an immigration hearing. ICE showed up to arrest people who were following the legal process.

In the video, an ICE officer told an attorney, who was explaining that some of her clients included a family with health issues, to choose which of her clients would be arrested and which would be spared to get their hearing.

“I’m not picky so I’m giving you the options cause I have to take one. If not I’ll take all,” the officer says.

“This is dystopian,” said immigration attorney and American Immigration Council senior fellow Aaron Reichlin-Melnick. “An ICE officer explains he was ordered to arrest migrants at their court hearings — even those with pending cases. Then he asks an attorney to make a Sophie’s Choice.”

ICE is evil!

https://www.rawstory.com/ice-2672366385

LA Times: How did a rumor about an ICE raid on a homeless shelter escalate to Mayor Bass?

At a news conference Thursday, Mayor Karen Bass made a startling claim.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents had appeared at a homeless shelter that day, among other sensitive locations in Los Angeles, she said.

But what actually happened at the Whitsett West Tiny Home Village in North Hollywood remains murky. The shifting narratives reflect the anxiety of Angelenos amid ICE raids targeting immigrants at Home Depots, churches and retail centers.

According to Laura Harwood, Hope the Mission’s deputy chief program officer, people in a car tried to get access to the tiny home village on Thursday afternoon, telling security guards that they were American citizens who wanted to see how their taxpayer dollars were being used. The guards did not admit the visitors, who were wearing civilian clothes.

“This is a really unusual situation. This really doesn’t happen,” Harwood said.

Other employees saw some men looking into the complex from different sides and taking pictures.

A worker at the tiny home village, who requested anonymity because he has family members who are undocumented, told The Times that he was returning from lunch when he spotted two DHS SUVs with tinted windows down the block.

So it seems that ICE thugs probably were casing out the homeless shelter; they just haven’t yet gotten around to raiding it.

https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2025-06-13/ice-raid-homeless-shelter-rumor-bass

Raw Story: Kristi [Bimbo #2] Noem called out over her ‘disturbing’ comments as Padilla was cuffed

The day after Sen. Alex Padilla (D-CA) was manhandled by homeland security secretary Kristi Noem’s security team before being forced to the ground and being handcuffed, MSNBC legal analyst Lisa Rubin called out the Donald Trump appointee for her actions and comments as the lawmaker was dragged out.

Speaking with host Ana Cabrera, Rubin expressed her own disgust at the men who grabbed the lawmaker before taking aim at [Bimbo #2] Noem for continuing on as if nothing happened.

After watching footage of the incident, Rubin said she focused on what Noem complained about as the altercation took place.

Pointing out that Padilla “was escorted into that room DHS and an FBI agent flanking him, so clearly, somebody in the Department of Homeland Security was well aware that Alex Padilla was not only in the building, but in the room.”

“The idea that Alex Padilla was an attacker and was not recognized by people affiliated with Kristi [Bimbo #2] Noem, or that Kristi [Bimbo #2] Noem herself didn’t recognize Alex Padilla and stop herself to say, ‘Well, wait a second, that’s California’s senior senator, Alex Padilla, but instead continues on her way as he’s being escorted from the room and then pushed to the ground and handcuffed – that is an incredibly disturbing moment.”

“I don’t know if you could hear this,” she told Cabrera, “But as Kristi [Bimbo #2] Noem is continuing at her press conference, she’s talking about the danger of DHS agents being doxxed. I imagine that she was talking about the reasons for their wearing masks on the streets of Los Angeles and other places.”

“The idea that her concern was, in that moment, more about DHS agents being doxed while a sitting U.S. senator is being forcibly removed for nothing disruptive is chilling to the bone,” she remarked. “I saw that yesterday. I thought that I was incapable of more hyperbole, and I just don’t know where to muster it from anymore.”

What do you expect from a psychotic liar who shot her own family’s puppy and goat? All she cares about are herself and her Rollex. U.S. Senators being abused and brown people being disappeared are of no consequence to her.

https://www.rawstory.com/noem-2672365076