Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem was to the hospital in Washington, D.C., on Tuesday, June 17.
DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said in a statement to Newsweek, “Secretary Noem had an allergic reaction today. She was transported to the hospital out of an abundance of caution. She is alert and recovering.”
That same day, California Democratic Senator Alex Padilla got emotional on the Senate floor while talking about being removed from Noem’s news conference last week in Los Angeles, Calif.
“If you watch what unfolded last week and that what happened is just about one politician and one press conference, you’re missing the point,” Padilla said. “If that is what the administration is willing to do to a United States senator for having the authority to simply ask a question — imagine what they’ll do to any American who dares to speak up.”
“I was physically and aggressively forced out of the room, even as I repeatedly announced I was a United States senator and I had a question for the secretary,” he said. “And even as the National guardsman and the FBI agent who served as my escorts and brought me into that press briefing room stood by — silently, knowing full well who I was. You’ve seen the video. I was pushed and pulled, struggled to maintain my balance.”
Padilla continued to explain what happened to him, stating he was “forced to the ground, first on my knees, and then flat on my chest, and as I was handcuffed and marched down a hallway repeatedly asking, ‘Why am I being detained?'”
“I pray you never have a moment like this,” he shared.
“‘Am I being arrested here? What will a city already on edge from being militarized think when they see their United States senator being handcuffed just for trying to ask a question? And what will my wife think? What will our boys think?'” he continued.
Noem said Padilla’s behavior at the press conference “wasn’t appropriate.”
“I think everybody in America would agree that that wasn’t appropriate. That if you wanted to have a civil discussion, especially as a leader, a public official, that you would reach out and try to have a conversation,” Noem told reporters during the press conference.