Senator Padilla was grabbed by security agents, forcibly removed, pushed to the ground, and handcuffed after he disrupted DHS Secretary Kristi Noem's press conference regarding the Los Angeles anti-ICE riots. Padilla was not arrested or detained following the incident, but it sparked major backlash from Democratic officials who condemned the treatment of Padilla as an abuse of power.
Speaking to CNN's Kasie Hunt, Campbell said on Friday, "It's easy to think about this as one incident. But actually, from a law enforcement perspective, we're really looking at three separate incidents that happened within a short period of time."
"First, you have the DHS Secretary who is addressing the press - this was not a Q&A period - and she's interrupted by someone who was speaking very loudly," he continued. "So, her security detail confronts [Padilla], and at that point, he is now going to be escorted out. You can't interrupt something like that, that's already in progress, without having those consequences."
"But, the second incident in my view happens the moment as officers are trying to lead him out, he then turns and walks back towards those agents. At that point, from a security detail perspective, we're taking this person out against their will. The moment he turned into them, they realized this is not someone who is going to comply," he said.
Secretary Noem's security detail was unaware that the disruptive person was Senator Padilla when they removed him from the briefing and temporarily detained him, according to DHS.
Padilla and his Democratic supporters argued that his removal was an overreach by DHS and reflective of broader issues with the Trump administration's immigration policies. Padilla stated, "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 farm workers, to cooks, to day laborers."
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer condemned the incident as "despicable" and a "shameful abuse of power," calling for an investigation into the agents' conduct.
Despite the disruption, Sec. Noem said during the press briefing that ICE will continue its immigration enforcement operations regardless of the riots.
