(AFP) – California’s stand-off with President Donald Trump’s administration ratcheted up Thursday, after a sitting US senator was handcuffed and forcibly removed from a press conference on immigration raids that have spurred days of protests. The shocking incident, which came after the Republican president sent troops into Los Angeles over the objections of local and state officials, was swiftly slammed by furious Democrats who said it “reeks of totalitarianism.”
Video footage shows Senator Alex Padilla, a Democrat, being pushed from the room at a federal building in Los Angeles as he tried to ask Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem about the raids. “I’m Senator Alex Padilla. I have questions for the secretary,” he said as two men grappled with him in front of journalists, including from AFP. Footage filmed by Padilla’s staff outside the room shows the senator being pushed to the ground and handcuffed.
Democratic-led California is currently embroiled in battles with the White House on several fronts, with Governor Gavin Newsom branding Trump “dictatorial” as his lawyers prepared to face off with the administration over the deployment of 4,700 troops to the city. “If this is how this administration responds to a senator with a question… you can only imagine what they’re doing to farm workers, to cooks, to day laborers out in the Los Angeles community,” Padilla told reporters later at a press conference.
The incident “reeks of totalitarianism,” Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said, calling for an investigation. “Trump and his shock troops are out of control,” Newsom posted on social media, while Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass called the incident “abhorrent.” The White House hit back, claiming it was a “theater-kid stunt” and asserting, without evidence, that Padilla “lunged toward Secretary Noem.” Noem slammed Padilla’s interruption as “inappropriate,” and a Homeland Security spokesman said she later met with the senator for 15 minutes.
Noem was addressing reporters after almost a week of protests in Los Angeles ignited by the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown. The mostly peaceful demonstrations have been marred by some eye-catching violence, with cars torched and rocks thrown at police officers. Trump, who has repeatedly exaggerated the scale of the unrest, deployed 4,000 National Guard troops and 700 US Marines. Critics have accused him of a power grab, and a judge was set to review the legality of the deployments. Trump took credit Thursday for making Los Angeles “safe and sound.”
Anger at Trump’s crackdown and the use of masked, armed immigration agents, backed by uniformed soldiers, is spreading to other cities. Nationwide protests were planned for Saturday. A federal judge in San Francisco was set to hear arguments on whether the use of the troops is constitutional, with Newsom alleging that the president “is creating fear and terror.”
Trump on Thursday said Newsom — seen as a contender for the Democratic presidential nomination in 2028 — had “totally lost control of the situation” and should thank him for “saving his ass.” California also sued Trump’s administration Thursday over his move to scrap the state’s tailpipe emission rules and its drive to phase out gas-powered cars. Trump was elected last year after campaigning on a promise to launch historic mass deportations. However, with his mounting crackdown rippling through industries heavily reliant on immigrant labor — such as farming, construction, and hospitality — Trump said he had heard employers’ complaints and hinted at a forthcoming policy shift. “We’re going to have an order on that pretty soon, I think. We can’t do that to our farmers — and leisure too, hotels,” he said.
Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum spoke up Thursday, stating that she had told a visiting US official that “we didn’t agree with the use of raids to detain people working honestly in the United States.” Protests also took place in Spokane, Seattle, Tucson, Las Vegas, Dallas, Austin, San Antonio, Milwaukee, Chicago, Atlanta, and Boston, according to US media. A nationwide “No Kings” movement was expected on Saturday, the same day Trump attends a highly unusual military parade in the US capital. The parade, featuring warplanes and tanks, has been organized to celebrate the 250th anniversary of the founding of the US Army but also happens to be on the day of Trump’s 79th birthday.
– Huw Griffith and Sarah Titterton
© 2024 AFP
