California gubernatorial candidates call Padilla handcuffing 'a dark moment for our democracy'

Laura J. Nelson, Los Angeles Times on Jun 12, 2025

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LOS ANGELES — Seven of the Democrats running to replace California Gov. Gavin Newsom issued a rare joint statement Thursday to condemn the forceful removal of Sen. Alex Padilla from a Department of Homeland Security news conference, calling it a “dark moment for our democracy.”

“We are witnessing the rise of authoritarianism that threatens the foundation on which this nation was founded,” said a prepared statement jointly issued by former Senate President Pro Tem Toni G. Atkins, former U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra, Lt. Gov. Eleni Kounalakis, former U.S. Rep. Katie Porter, State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond, former Los Angeles mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, and former state Controller Betty Yee.

After interrupting Secretary Kristi Noem during a news conference at a federal building in West L.A., Padilla was pushed backward by federal agents as he told them: “I’m Sen. Alex Padilla.” Three agents removed Padilla from the briefing room, forced him to the ground and briefly handcuffed him. Padilla and federal officials said he was not arrested.

Treating Padilla that way while he was “performing his congressional duty of oversight,” the California gubernatorial candidates said, “is not just an attack on one individual but on the principles of justice and checks and balances.”

“Let us be clear — if this can happen to a sitting U.S. Senator, if our governor can be threatened with arrest, if a respected labor leader can be detained without cause, then no one in this country is safe from this President and his administration’s abuse of power,” the candidates said.

“As Californians, leaders, and candidates for Governor, we stand in solidarity to condemn this alarming escalation,” they said. “We will not be silent in the face of injustice and as immigrant communities are denied due process. We support Senator Padilla and reaffirm our commitment to defending our democracy — for every person in this country.”