United States Senate Democrats have decried the ‘public humiliation’ of one of its senators Alex Padilla after the politician was arrested, handcuffed and slammed on the ground by federal agents for interrupting the press conference of Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem.

According to the New York Times, the incident occurred on Thursday morning while Ms Noem was holding a press conference on immigration operations in Huntington Park, California when Mr Padilla raised his voice to ask questions but was hurriedly removed from the venue despite identifying himself. 

Mr Padilla was subsequently handcuffed and forced to sit on the floor before he was eventually released, promoting widespread condemnation from Democrat politicians, including California Governor Gavin Newsom, who shared an image of Padilla on X, saying, “If they can handcuff a U.S. senator for asking a question, imagine what they will do to you.”

Meanwhile, House minority leader Hakeem Jeffries, a New York Democrat, said “every single person who was involved in manhandling” of Padilla “should be held accountable to the full extent of the law.” 

“It’s just outrageous and disgraceful and sickening to watch,” said Democrat Senator Adam Schiff. “In the video, he’s identifying himself as Sen. Alex Padilla, so I have no doubt that they understood exactly who he was, and that makes it all the more troubling.” 

Senate majority leader John Thune, a South Dakota Republican, told reporters that he was still trying to get the facts of the situation before determining further steps, noting he has spoken to Senate’s sergeant at arms and Mr Padilla but yet to hear from Ms Noem. 

“We want to get the full scope of what happened and do what we would do on any incident like this involving a senator and try to gather all the relevant information,” Mr Thune said.