Alex Padilla Definitely Identified Himself, Despite What Kristi Noem Is Claiming

As video of California Senator Alex Padilla's detention during a Department of Homeland Security press conference began to circulate online, there were almost immediately dueling narratives about the incident. Democrats used the moment to remind the public that, if Trump's administration could arrest a United States senator for no reason, they could do the same to anyone.

Republicans, meanwhile, claimed that Padilla was there to cause a scene, and further suggested that the senator had not identified himself. Here's what we know about whether that second claim is true.

Following his detention, DHS Secretary Kristi Noem justified it in part by suggesting that the senator had failed to identify himself after walking into the press conference, which was taking place in Los Angeles.

"I'll let the law enforcement speak about how this situation was handled, but I would say that people need to identify themselves before they start lunging at people during press conferences," Noem said following the press conference.

Noem's claim that Padilla had not identified himself was contradicted not just by Padilla himself, who claimed that he had identified himself, but also by numerous videos from the event that make it clear that he said his name repeatedly as he was being forced to the ground by federal agents. Padilla clarified that he was in the building for a briefing with federal officials, and found out that Noem was holding a press conference in the same building.

Noem's press conference was designed to address the ongoing deployment of federal troops in California, which she said was being done to "liberate" the state from its elected leaders.

"I was there peacefully. At one point I had a question, and so I began to ask a question," Padilla said. "I was almost immediately forcibly removed from the room. I was forced to the ground, and I was handcuffed. I was not arrested. I was not detained."

The notion, then, that Padilla did not identify himself is absurd on its face. He did exactly that and was forcibly removed anyway. Padilla was there to get information from the Homeland Security secretary critical to those he represents. Instead of answering his question, though, federal agents got him out of the press conference as quickly as possible. Fortunately, the whole thing was on camera.

"When a U.S. senator goes to demand answers about the lawfulness or lawlessness of these actions to see him tackled to the ground, brought to the ground, what is becoming of our democracy?" Adam Schiff, Padilla's fellow California senator, asked on the Senate floor. "Are there no limits to what this administration will do? Is there no line they will not cross?"

The video itself sent shockwaves on social media, in part because of what it says about the lengths this administration has gone to already. As many worry about the state of American democracy, the removal of a senator trying to simply ask a question is worth looking at with concern.