FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
June 12, 2025
Contact: Leila Miller | press@indivisible.org
Washington, D.C. – Today, Indivisible’s co-founder and co-executive director Leah Greenberg released the following statement in response to the violent removal of Senator Alex Padilla (CA) from Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem’s press conference in Los Angeles:
“A sitting United States Senator, Alex Padilla, was violently tackled and handcuffed by federal agents—on American soil, while performing official oversight duties—because he dared to ask a question.
“This isn’t law enforcement. This is violent occupation. Secretary Kristi Noem made it crystal clear in her own words: she sees her mission as ‘liberating’ Los Angeles from its own elected leaders and residents. That’s the language of an invader, not a public servant.
“The fact that a Senator doing his job could be treated with such callous disregard should alarm every American. If this is how they treat a United States Senator, we can only imagine the abuses being perpetrated against vulnerable communities across the country.
“Indivisible stands in full solidarity with Senator Padilla. We demand a full and immediate investigation into this egregious use of force and call on all leaders to denounce this authoritarian behavior. And we demand full accountability for Secretary Noem and the federal agents executing these lawless orders.
“This Saturday, June 14th, we’ll be organizing everywhere in peaceful, non-violent protest to make it clear: we don’t do kings here. We will continue to fight to defend our democracy against those who seek to silence dissent.”
###
ABOUT THE INDIVISIBLE PROJECT
The Indivisible Project is a registered 501(c)(4) nonprofit. Our mission is to cultivate and lift up a grassroots movement of local groups to defeat the Trump agenda, elect progressive leaders, and realize bold progressive policies. Across the nation, thousands of local groups are using the Indivisible Guide to hold their members of Congress accountable.