Politics

Sen. Amy Klobuchar mourned the two Minnesota state lawmakers shot early Saturday at their homes in what leaders are calling an “act of targeted political violence,” calling them “friends” and “decent people” who were simply “trying to represent the people that they were elected to represent.”

The Minnesota Democrat told ABC News’ “This Week” co-anchor Martha Raddatz that people should “know” the victims of political violence and threats — in this case, state Rep. Melissa Hortman, who was killed alongside her husband, and state Sen. John Hoffman and his wife, who underwent surgery after the attack.

“She was a true leader, and I loved her work, but was always so grounded and such a decent person. I think that’s probably the best word to describe her. You look at her pictures and you know what she was about. So we miss her greatly, and so when you hear about statistics about political violence and threats, I just want people to know who we’re talking about,” Klobuchar said about Hortman.

“Or Senator Hoffman. Equally respected. Got into politics because his daughter has spina bifida and she couldn’t get insurance, and he wanted to advocate for her. Decent people who didn’t deserve this to happen to them,” Klobuchar continued.

Authorities have identified 57-year-old Vance Luther Boelter as the suspected gunman and are continuing to search for him.

Klobuchar described Hortman as an illustrious lawmaker and compassionate public servant, who began her career in public service as a mother with young children who had a background working at her father’s auto parts company. Hortman easily juggled teaching Sunday school, leading a Girl Scout troop and training service dogs for veterans, Klobuchar said.

The senator said she first got to know Hortman when she was a young lawmaker and she was struck with how she was able to know “practically every person in her district.”

“Melissa Hortman was a woman that I wish everyone around the country knew,” Klobuchar told Raddatz. “When you think about a true public servant who goes into it for the right reasons, it’s Melissa.”

Klobuchar said that Hortman’s ability to “juggle it all” may have contributed to the political success she’d been able to notch, especially in the past year with a divided legislature, when she worked alongside the state Senate’s Republican leader to artfully negotiate a budget and avoid government shutdown.

When she was the Speaker of the House, Hortman also spearheaded landmark legislation like paid family leave and free lunch for students, Klobuchar said.

Klobuchar called the suspect “evil,” and “smart” on Sunday.

“He’s evil. He is smart. He has killed without a second thought, and there’s a $50,000 reward,” she told Raddatz.

The Minnesota Democrat lauded the cooperation between Minnesota leaders and state law enforcement.

“We couldn’t be getting more help from law enforcement,” Klobuchar said, applauding also local police officers’ swift work on the ground, when they checked in on Hortman soon after getting called to Hoffman’s house.

“Those local police officers at that moment not only appear to have saved [Hoffman] and his wife’s life, but also had given us major leads to who he was and why he was doing this,” Klobuchar said.

Klouchar said she “hasn’t seen” the target list written by the gunman, something that law enforcement sources say had dozens of Minnesota Democrats on it.

Those on the list included Minnesota lawmakers Gov. Tim Walz, U.S. Rep. Ilhan Omar, U.S. Sen. Tina Smith and state Attorney General Keith Ellison, according to law enforcement sources familiar with the matter.

Klobuchar called political violence a “rampant problem” and said she “believes” that could have been one of the gunman’s motivations for the Minnesota lawmaker shootings.

“I believe that there’s some things in the manifesto that would lead you down that trail to believe that this was one of his motivating forces,” Klobuchar said.

She also highlighted the bipartisan statement against political violence that the Minnesota congressional delegation released after the shootings on Saturday.

“You speak with one voice to condemn this political violence. There’s no place for this politically motivated violence in our democracy,” Klobuchar said on Sunday. “This is a rampant problem that the public and all of us have to deal with — and also against judges, and all of us should condemn all of that violence,” she said.

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President Donald Trump said Sunday the United States is not involved in Israel’s military strikes against Iran, but “it’s possible we could get involved.”

That comes after reports that Israel had urged the U.S. to join the conflict with Iran to eliminate its nuclear program.

In an interview with ABC News’ Rachel Scott, Trump declined to comment on whether Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu made a personal plea for the U.S. to get more involved.

“We’re not involved in it. It’s possible we could get involved. But we are not at this moment involved,” the president said.

Trump also shared that he had a lengthy call with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Saturday to discuss, in large part, the conflict in the Middle East.

The president told ABC News he would be “open” to Putin’s idea to serve as a mediator between Iran and Israel.

“I would be open to it. [Putin] is ready. He called me about it. We had a long talk about it. We talked about this more than his situation. This is something I believe is going to get resolved,” Trump stated.

The president’s special envoy, Steve Witkoff, was set to travel to Oman on Sunday for another round of nuclear talks with Iranian officials. But following Israel’s strikes, Iran called off the meeting. Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi called the nuclear negotiations “unjustifiable” after the attacks, which he said were carried out with the support of the U.S.

The president, who stated he gave Iran a “60-day ultimatum” to “make a deal,” told ABC News he is not setting a new deadline.

“No, there’s no deadline. But they are talking. They’d like to make a deal. They’re talking. They continue to talk,” the president said, referring to Iran.

“Something like this had to happen because I think even from both sides, but something like this had to happen. They want to talk, and they will be talking,” the president added.

Iran’s foreign minister told a meeting of ambassadors in Tehran on Sunday that Israel’s ongoing attacks on the country could not have happened “without the agreement and support of the United States” and insisted Iranian officials do not ‘believe the U.S.’s claim’ that it had no involvement.

Despite the stalled talks over Iran’s nuclear program, the president expressed optimism that the strikes will bring Iran to the table quickly.

“May have forced a deal to go quicker, actually,” Trump said.

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President Donald Trump told ABC News on Sunday that he “may” call Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz after a political assassination sent shockwaves through the state.

The president, who condemned the violence, called the Democratic governor a “terrible governor” and “grossly incompetent” in an interview with ABC News’ Rachel Scott.

“Well, it’s a terrible thing. I think he’s a terrible governor. I think he’s a grossly incompetent person. But I may, I may call him, I may call other people too,” the president told Scott.

Minnesota is reeling from two back-to-back shootings. Authorities say a masked gunman disguised as a police officer shot and killed Minnesota state Rep. Melissa Hortman, a former speaker of the state House, and her husband Mark, and wounded a state senator and his wife early Saturday.

The suspected gunman, 57-year-old Vance Luther Boelter, fled on foot and remains on the run.

Walz called the shootings an “act of targeted political violence.”

The president condemned the violence shortly after the attack.

“Such horrific violence will not be tolerated in the United States of America. God Bless the great people of Minnesota, a truly great place,” he said.

A source close the Walz told ABC News that Walz and Vice President JD Vance spoke regarding the shootings.

“The Governor expressed appreciation for the ongoing coordination between federal law enforcement and Minnesota public safety officials,” the person said.

Another source familiar with the Minnesota governor told ABC News early Sunday afternoon that Trump has not called Walz.

The source said that former President Joe Biden called Walz “right away.”

The White House said in a statement that the FBI and the attorney general’s office will investigate the shootings and “will be prosecuting anyone involved to the fullest extent of the law.”

Police say the suspected gunman allegedly had dozens of Minnesota Democrats on a target list, which was retrieved from the his vehicle.

The assassination comes amid growing concerns about political violence in the U.S. following the recent killing of two Israeli embassy staffers in Washington, the arson attack at the home of Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, and the attempted assassination of Trump last summer.

ABC News’ Hannah Demissie contributed to this report.

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(WASHINGTON) — In June 2024, Army Chief of Staff Gen. Randy George and his aides were at a Virginia military base where the service was putting on one of its live-action shows for kids and families.

The event — a decades-long tradition known as the “Twilight Tattoo” — was a spectacle. Soldiers from ceremonial units reenact the history of the Army, complete with Revolutionary War garb, music, theatrical vignettes and military pageantry, all meant to serve as a kind of salute to Army soldiers and their families.

George and his top communications adviser, Col. Dave Butler, were attending with several media executives, when one of them leaned over.

“This would make great television,” the executive said, according to Butler.

George and his staff had already been talking about how to celebrate the Army’s 250th birthday. Maybe, they thought, the National Park Service would let them host one of their live-action shows on the National Mall, the officials thought.

After President Donald Trump took office and the June 14 birthday was getting closer, the Army began to toss around more ideas. One idea was to add tanks or other iconic Army equipment to an exhibit parked on the National Mall where tourists could learn about the Army’s history of fighting the nation’s wars.

Butler said he doesn’t remember who first broached the idea of turning the Army’s show into a parade. But once the idea was floated, no one seemed to push back.

By June, the Army had a plan of what they would include: 6,700 soldiers, 150 vehicles, including dozens of tanks, 50 aircraft flying overhead including World War II-era planes and high-tech weaponry like rocket launchers.

Trump, a former media executive himself, seemed game to the idea. One official involved in the planning described it like “knocking on an unlocked door.”

“We wanted to reintroduce this nation’s Army to the American people,” Butler said. “To do that, we thought we needed to be in their living rooms and on their phones. We needed something that would catch the national eye.”

Criticism over cost

As the Army prepares for its birthday parade in downtown Washington on Saturday, not everyone is on board. About 6 in 10 Americans say that Saturday’s parade is “not a good use” of government money, according to a new poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research.

The White House has not released an estimate of the parade’s cost, with only the Army’s portion of moving troops and equipment expected to cost up to $45 million. Security is expected to add significantly to the price tag.

Democrat Sen. Tammy Duckworth of Illinois, an Army veteran who deployed with the Illinois National Guard during the Iraq War, said the money would be better spent on helping troops pay for essentials like child care.

“Donald Trump’s birthday parade has nothing to do with celebrating the Army’s 250th birthday — it’s to stroke his own ego and make taxpayers foot the bill,” said Duckworth.

Duckworth and other Trump critics also note a military parade is often associated with countries like Russia and North Korea, where dictators march its soldiers and equipment through their streets. Advocates are organizing protests in cities other than Washington — dubbed the “No Kings” protests.

Trump, who turns 79 on Saturday, said he wants a military parade to show how great the country is. The president first pushed the idea in 2017 after attending the Bastille Day parade and celebration in France, saying he wanted to “try and top it.” That effort was canceled after price estimates topped $90 million.

When asked Thursday what he hopes the public will remember about the American parade, Trump said, “How great our country is, very simple, and how strong our military is.”

“We have the strongest military in the world,” he added.

According to Army officials involved in the planning effort, including Butler, the White House helped the Army plan the birthday celebration as an event focused on the Army’s service to the nation.

There are no plans currently, for example, to sing the president happy birthday. The president also is not expected to speak, leaving much of the festivities to the soldiers.

According to the schedule, Trump will watch the tanks and soldiers march down Constitution Avenue from a viewing stand near the White House. Toward the end of the event, he will receive a flag from a soldier who will parachute on to the White House Ellipse. After that, the president will give the oath of enlistment to some 250 soldiers.

The event concludes with fireworks over the Tidal Basin.

Still, there are some of Trump’s fingerprints on the event. In the final days leading up to the event, the White House made an unusual request. Trump, they said, wanted the Air Force to bring its fighter jets to the Army’s party. If weather allows, the Thunderbirds will now do a flyover.

White House deputy press secretary Anna Kelly defended the move to let the Air Force participate in the Army’s birthday parade.

“The President wants the Army Birthday Parade to feature the strength, talent, and creativity of all our military servicemembers,” she said in a statement. “The Thunderbirds flyover will inspire patriotism and awe for all who attend!”

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(LOS ANGELES) — California Sen. Alex Padilla has continued to defend himself and refute the claims by the Trump administration that he crashed Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem’s news conference before federal officers shoved him outside the room, pushed him onto the floor and handcuffed him.

Padilla, the ranking member of the Senate Judiciary Committee’s Subcommittee on Immigration, Citizenship, and Border Safety, provided more details about the incident Thursday night during an interview on MSNBC — where he said he was not a threat and merely raised his voice to ask a question.

The senator claimed he did not barge into the news conference, as alleged by Noem, but rather he was in the federal building for an approved scheduled briefing with representatives of the Northern Command. He said the meeting was delayed by Noem’s news conference, where she discussed the use of the National Guard in the city.

Padilla said he decided to go listen to the news conference and asked the National Guard and FBI agents with him if he could go.

“We’re, the whole time, being escorted in this federal building by somebody from the National Guard, somebody from the FBI. I’ve gone through screening. This is a federal building. And so, I tell them, ‘Let’s go listen to the press conference.’ They escort me over to that room,” Padilla told MSNBC.

“The folks that were escorting me in the building walked me over. I didn’t even open the door. The door was opened for me. And I spent a few minutes in the back of the room just listening in until the rhetoric, the political rhetoric got to be too much to take. So, I spoke up,” he later added.

During her news conference, Noem claimed she was going to “liberate” Los Angeles “from the socialists and the burdensome leadership this governor and mayor have placed on this country and this city.”

Padilla told MSNBC that he needed to speak out and said he introduced himself before the officers grabbed him and pushed him out of the room as onlookers filmed the incident.

Noem said law enforcement reacted because he took steps toward her without identifying himself. She told Fox News Thursday that no one knew who he was and that he was “lunging forward.”

Video of the incident captures Padilla identifying himself as he is pushed out of the room; it’s not clear from video if he said his name before the incident or as he approached the podium. Padilla was wearing a navy blue polo shirt that had the U.S. Senate logo under a navy blue jacket. He said he was not wearing a Senate pin at the time of the incident.

Padilla was not detained or arrested and he and Noem had a private conversation for “10-15 minutes” after the incident, according to both the senator and the secretary.

Noem said that Padilla will likely not be charged.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt on Thursday said Padilla should be “ashamed of his childish behavior.”

“He crashed the middle of an official press conference being held by a cabinet secretary, recklessly lunged toward the podium where @Sec_Noem was speaking, and then refused to leave the room and follow the directions of law enforcement officers,” Leavitt posted to X.

Democratic senators quickly came to Padilla’s defense Thursday, calling out Noem and the officers for mishandling the senator.

“This is an administration that has no respect for our democracy, for our institutions, for the separation of powers, for a co-equal branch of government Sen. Adam Schiff said.

House Speaker Mike Johnson and other Republicans chastised Padilla. Johnson claimed that censure might be needed. A vote to censure does not hold any power beyond a public condemnation of the member’s behavior and it does not deny the member privileges.

Sen. Majority Leader John Thune told reporters Thursday evening that he had spoken with Padilla and the Senate Sergeant At Arms and had attempted to reach Noem and said he was gathering facts.

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

When asked if he thought what occurred was appropriate based on what he had so far seen, Thune said, “That’s all I’ve got to say.”

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(WASHINGTON) — Thousands of “No Kings Day” protests are set to be held throughout the country on Saturday to protest President Donald Trump’s administration and to counterprogram the military parade in Washington, D.C., marking the U.S. Army’s 250th birthday.

Here’s what to know about the protests.

What is the idea behind “No Kings Day”?

“‘No Kings Day’ is the largest single-day, peaceful protest in recent American history, made up of millions of normal, everyday Americans who are showing up in more than 2,000 communities around the country to say, ‘we don’t do kings in America,'” Ezra Levin, the co-executive director of progressive organizing group Indivisible, told ABC News on Thursday.

Indivisible and other organizations involved with the coalition coordinating the protests have said that the protests are meant to protest what they say is overreach by the Trump administration on immigration enforcement and deportations, civil rights and cuts to the federal government.

They’ve also pointed to how the military parade is being held on Trump’s birthday. Trump has denied any connection between the parade’s timing and his birthday, pointing to how June 14 is Flag Day.

The groups coordinating the protests originally announced the initiatives in early May, after reports of the upcoming military parade, but organizers have said that the protests against immigration enforcement in Los Angeles and the response from the federal government have driven much more interest to the events.

Where and when will the protests be?

The protests will be held across the country and even beyond the United States, with a flagship event held in Philadelphia. Levin told ABC News there are now more than 2,000 events planned “just about everywhere, everywhere but downtown D.C. — intentionally so.”

According to Levin, the organizers did not want to give Trump a rationale to retaliate against peaceful protests in D.C. or to say that the protesters were protesting the military.

“We are ceding downtown D.C. Trump can have it for that day, and instead, we’re organizing literally everywhere else,” Levin said.

Most of the protests around the country will be held in the morning, ahead of the parade. Some in the western part of the country may occur concurrently with the parade, which is set to kick off at 6:30 p.m. ET.

What has Trump said about the protests?

Asked on Thursday about his thoughts on the “No Kings” protests planned across the country for Saturday, Trump said he did not feel like a king.

“I don’t feel like a king. I have to go through hell to get stuff approved,” he said.

“A king would say, ‘I’m not gonna get this’… he wouldn’t have to call up Mike Johnson and Thune and say, ‘Fellas, you got to pull this off’ and after years we get it done. No, no, we’re not a king, we’re not a king at all,” he added, referencing the Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives and Senate Majority leader, respectively.

Trump, on Tuesday, had threatened to use “heavy force” against “any” protesters at the military parade in the nation’s capital; White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt later said that “of course” the president supports peaceful protestors. Organizers of the No Kings protests have continuously emphasized they are not planning protests in Washington.

Are there safety concerns surrounding the protests?

Organizers have emphasized that the protests should remain peaceful and nonviolent, pointing to various trainings they’ve held this week about safety and deescalation.

Levin said there were some concerns about outside agitators trying to disrupt protests, but he said people shouldn’t feel “as if we’re going into battle. That’s not what this is about. This is peaceful protest. People are going to have funny signs, people are going to be dancing, people are going to be chanting, people are going to be expressing their First Amendment rights.”

At least two states, Texas and Missouri, have said they are calling up the National Guard in their states as a precaution against the potential for any violence at protests on Saturday. The governors of both states affirmed that peaceful protests are legal.

What comes next?

The events on Saturday are not meant to be the be-all end-all of the groups’ efforts to protest the Trump administration, Levin said.

“I think sometimes folks think a protest has to be everything. It’s got to solve all your problems … We need persistent, peaceful, people-powered organizing them on the ground in blue states, red states and purple states that allow people to push back against the escalating overreach from this administration,” Levin said.

ABC News’ Hannah Demissie, Lalee Ibssa and Kelsey Walsh contributed to this report.

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(WASHINGTON) — For years, Republican Sen. Josh Hawley has been the face of a fight in Congress to reauthorize and expand access to the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act (RECA), which provides compensation to individuals exposed to nuclear waste. Now, Hawley has announced a breakthrough: reauthorization and expansion of the program in the Senate’s version of the “One Big Beautiful Bill.”

If the Senate’s version of the bill is finally adopted, it will include in it the largest expansion of the program since its inception in 1990, allowing individuals in regions of Missouri, Tennessee, Kentucky and Alaska, as well as the already-qualified “downwinders” exposed to nuclear radiation from the testing of the atomic bomb, to be compensated for exposure to toxic waste.

In an exclusive phone interview with ABC News Thursday night, Hawley called the inclusion of the RECA provisions in the Senate’s version of the megabill advancing President Donald Trump’s legislative agenda a “huge step forward” in the fight to secure compensation for individuals affected by nuclear exposure.

“This will be, if we can get the Big Beautiful Bill passed, this will be a huge huge victory,” the Missouri Republican said during the phone call.

The proposed reauthorization of RECA will be included in the Senate Judiciary Committee’s portion of the reconciliation package. In addition to expansion and reauthorization, the proposal also allows for claims to be used for increased levels of atmospheric testing and adds uranium mine workers who worked in the mines from 1971-1990 to be eligible for benefits under the bill.

“There will be more to do,” Hawley said. “But this is a very very significant expansion.”

Hawley has been engaged in attempting to reauthorize RECA for several years. Some of his constituents in St. Louis are affected by nuclear waste from the Manhattan Project that is currently stored in the West Lake Landfill in Bridgeton, Missouri.

One of those constituents is Dawn Chapman, who lives within miles of the West Lake Landfill and whose son and husband both suffer from autoimmune diseases as a result of exposure to the toxic waste near their home. Chapman has been to Capitol Hill several times over the last few years to advocate for families like hers.

“Tonight, we know we are not alone,” Chapman told ABC News Thursday. “With the help of Sen. Hawley and our community members as well as our other bipartisan REA family, we have been able to turn the lights back on, and make RECA bigger to cover more communities.”

For those affected by nuclear exposure, Hawley said he hopes this moment shows that the country is standing beside them.

“I think it really is an incredible sign that the country is with them,” Hawley said. “I think now this is a measure of vindication. It is a measure of appreciation.”

The Senate has twice passed an expansion and reauthorization of RECA with bipartisan support, but the bill has failed to gain traction in the House, in part due to concerns about the very high price tag originally estimated by the Congressional Budget Office. That price tag has been refuted by proponents of the bill, and they’ve taken steps to modify it to lower the cost.

With further review and with programs set to sunset in 2028, the price tag should, Hawley said, fit well within the funds allocated to the Judiciary Committee to craft their portion of the reconciliation package. The CBO has not yet scored this portion of the package.

The Senate will still need to maneuver these provisions through the Senate’s procedural rules test as well as the finnicky Senate GOP conference, but Hawley said Majority Leader John Thune has been an ally in including the RECA language in the package. Thune’s support could be critical to keeping the language in the bill.

“It would not be in this mark were it not for him and his commitment to putting it into reconciliation. He has been a terrific partner,” Hawley said.

House Speaker Mike Johnson has also conveyed that he “wants to pass the RECA bill,” Hawley said. Inclusion in the bill would make it difficult for House Republicans to reject RECA provisions, given that the package is massive and includes many other GOP priorities.

Hawley said he has spoken with Trump about the move to include this legislation in the tax and immigration bill.

“He’s been very involved in everything, and he and I have talked about the RECA program before on many occasions, we are glad for his involvement in all of this,” Hawley said of his conversations with Trump.

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(WASHINGTON) — In the wake of a series of strikes by Israel on Iran’s nuclear sites, potentially pushing the Middle East to the brink of an all-out conflict, President Donald Trump told ABC News he thought the attacks had been “excellent” and suggested there was “more to come.”

On Thursday, Israel hit dozens of sites inside Iran, saying the country had enriched enough fissile material for several nuclear bombs. Israel also targeted Iran’s ballistic missile capabilities, which Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said could carry a nuclear payload.

“I think it’s been excellent,” Trump told ABC News’ Chief Washington Correspondent Jonathan Karl. “We gave them a chance and they didn’t take it. They got hit hard, very hard. They got hit about as hard as you’re going to get hit. And there’s more to come. a lot more.”

Trump declined to comment on whether the U.S. participated in the attack in any way. On Thursday night, the White House released a statement from Secretary of State Marco Rubio in which he said “Israel took unilateral action against Iran. We are not involved in strikes against Iran and our top priority is protecting American forces in the region.”

Trump has been focused on securing a nuclear agreement with Iran and talks were set to take place in Oman on Sunday. Earlier Thursday, Trump said he believed the U.S. was “fairly close” to a deal and didn’t want Israel “going in” fearing that strikes could “blow it.”

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(WASHINGTON) — Democrats expressed outrage after Democratic Sen. Alex Padilla of California was forcibly removed from Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem’s news conference on Thursday in Los Angeles, taken to the ground and handcuffed by law enforcement officers.

Noem was speaking to the media about the federal response to protests against Immigration and Customs Enforcement raids in the area when Padilla entered the room and approached Noem’s podium. As he approached, police officers in the room grabbed the senator, rushed him out of the room into a hallway, forced him to the ground and handcuffed him.

Video shows Padilla, the ranking member of the Senate Judiciary Committee’s Subcommittee on Immigration, Citizenship, and Border Safety, identifying himself and saying he wanted to ask a question as law enforcement forced him out of the room.

Padilla was later seen without handcuffs speaking to Noem in a conference room. Noem said later that the two spoke for 10 to 15 minutes and exchanged phone numbers. Noem said she didn’t expect him to be charged.

Noem said law enforcement reacted because he took steps toward her without identifying himself. She told Fox News that no one knew who he was and that he was “lunging forward.”

Video of the incident captures Padilla identifying himself as he is pushed out of the room; it’s not clear if he did before the incident or as he approached the podium.

Padilla later told reporters that he attended the news conference because Homeland Security had not been answering his questions about the administration’s deportation and immigration policies.

“And so I came to the press conference to hear what she had to say, to see if I could learn any new additional information,” the senator said, emphasizing that he was there peacefully.

DHS spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin alleged Padilla did not identify himself before approaching the podium.

“Senator Padilla chose disrespectful political theatre and interrupted a live press conference without identifying himself or having his Senate security pin on as he lunged toward Secretary Noem,” she said in a post on X. “Mr. Padilla was told repeatedly to back away and did not comply with officers’ repeated commands. @SecretService thought he was an attacker and officers acted appropriately.”

Noem told Fox News that she would have preferred to have talked with Padilla, “but coming into a press conference like this is political theater.”

“We sat down and had a conversation and we probably disagree on 90% of the topics but we agreed and exchanged phone numbers and we will continue to talk and share information and that is the way it should be in this country. I wish he would’ve acted that way in the beginning is that of creating a scene like this

Padilla’s Democratic colleagues were critical of the way he was treated.

“I just saw something that sickened my stomach — the manhandling of a United States senator. We need immediate answers to what the hell went on,” Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom called Padilla “one of the most decent people I know.”

“This is outrageous, dictatorial, and shameful,” Newsom wrote on X. “Trump and his shock troops are out of control. This must end now.”

Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass posted on X, “What just happened to @SenAlexPadilla is absolutely abhorrent and outrageous.”

Fellow California Sen. Adam Schiff called the actions against Padilla an “assault” on democracy.

“This is an administration that has no respect for our democracy, for our institutions, for the separation of powers, for a co-equal branch of government,” he said.

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries told reporters the way Padilla was handled was a “complete and total disgrace.”

“[Senator Padilla] was at that press conference doing his job, asking questions about what is taking place in California, the state that he represents and on behalf of the American people, and he was recklessly and aggressively manhandled. That was unacceptable. It was unconscionable. It was unpatriotic. It’s un-American, and every single person who was involved in manhandling Senator Padilla should be held accountable to the full extent of the law,” he told reporters.

Jeffries said Democrats would “push back aggressively in every way possible” to hold this administration accountable.

The Congressional Hispanic Caucus also demanded an investigation into the incident.

“This is unacceptable, full stop,” the CHC posted on X. “@SenAlexPadilla attended an open press conference to engage in debate, to represent his state, to do his job. We demand a full investigation and consequences for every official involved in this assault against a sitting US senator.”

Former Vice President Kamala Harris called the incident “a shameful and stunning abuse of power.”

On the Senate floor, Democratic Sen. Patty Murray said, “It is unacceptable that a United States senator, in his elected home state, elected by millions of people, went to ask a question for his constituents to get an answer, and brutally thrown to the ground and handcuffed. That is wrong.

“What happens when that voice was stifled? What happens when that voice is thrown to the ground and handcuffed? That voice is lost,” she said.

Members of the Hispanic Caucus later barged into the offices of Speaker Mike Johnson and Senate Majority Leader John Thune. Democrats from the California congressional delegation rushed to the House steps to condemn the incident.

“This assault on Senator Padilla today was an assault on freedom of speech in our country,” former Speaker Nancy Pelosi said there.

Rep. Zoe Lofgren, chair of the California congressional delegation, called the incident an “outrage,” and suggested it was akin to “what it felt like to be in Germany in 1930.”

California Rep. Jimmy Gomez called for Noem to testify before Congress.

“A senior senator who was shouting at the top of his lungs, ‘I am Senator Alex Padilla,'” Gomez said. “And what we want to know — we’re going to ask for and demand that Kristi Noem come before Congress and testify about what occurred today.”

A statement from Padilla’s office said he was in the building to receive a briefing from NORTHCOM commander Gen. Gregory Guillot and was listening to Noem’s news conference.

“He tried to ask the Secretary a question, and was forcibly removed by federal agents, forced to the ground and handcuffed. He is not currently detained, and we are working to get additional information,” the statement said.

House Speaker Mike Johnson admonished Padilla, calling the senator’s behavior “wildly inappropriate,” adding, “You don’t charge a sitting Cabinet secretary.”

“I think there needs to be a message sent by the body as a whole that that is not what we’re going to do. That’s not how we’re going to act,” he said during a news conference on an unrelated matter that was interrupted by Democratic members shouting “You lie!” as they marched to Thune’s office to protest the incident.

ABC News’ Arthur Jones II contributed to this report.

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(WASHINGTON) — The high-profile Democratic governors of Illinois, Minnesota and New York are defending their states’ immigration policies in a Republican-led House Oversight Committee on Thursday — weighing in on the ongoing Los Angeles protests over immigration enforcement.

JB Pritzker of Illinois, Tim Walz of Minnesota and Kathy Hochul of New York are taking questions from the House panel — many dealing with their policies as so-called “sanctuary states.” Their testimony comes as another Democratic-led state — California — is grappling with a slew of immigration-related protests that triggered President Donald Trump to deploy U.S. Marines and the National Guard to the area.

The governors slammed Trump’s decision to deploy troops to Los Angeles, with Hochul saying it “undermines sovereignty.”

“It’s basically saying the highly training individuals … can’t handle their jobs,” Hochul said, adding it’s an “overreach of epic proportions.”

Pritzker added that the decision goes against typical protocol, which “tends to have an inflaming effect.”

The hearing kicked off with a fiery statement from Ranking Member Stephen Lynch attacking Trump and his administration for their immigration policies. Referencing the Los Angeles protests, Lynch said deploying the military against civilians is “wrong.”

“If we don’t step up, it will continue. If we don’t step up, other citizens will meet the same fate,” the Massachusetts Democrat said.

During the hearing, House Republicans have slammed the governors, citing examples where illegal immigrants committed crimes in their states and the governors didn’t assist in effectively removing them.

Sanctuary states still enforce U.S. federal immigration laws, but the term often refers to a limited collaboration with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement while enacting policies that are more favorable to undocumented people.

The governors have fired back, saying immigration in the country is managed by the federal government.

House Oversight Chair James Comer requested in April that these Democratic governors testify, claiming that the “Trump administration is taking decisive action to deport criminal illegal aliens from our nation, but reckless sanctuary states like Illinois, Minnesota, and New York are actively seeking to obstruct federal immigration enforcement.”

“The governors of these states must explain why they are prioritizing the protection of criminal illegal aliens over the safety of U.S. citizens, and they must be held accountable,” Comer said in a media advisory for the upcoming hearing.

A spokesperson for the Democratic Governors Association also suggested that their leaders are focused on governing rather than spending time on “political stunts.”

“While Republicans in D.C. spend their time pulling political stunts, Democratic governors are busy getting real things done for their states, lowering costs, and keeping people safe,” Johanna Warshaw, a spokesperson for the group, said in a statement.

In March, the Oversight Committee held another newsy hearing with “sanctuary city” mayors including Boston Mayor Michelle Wu, Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson, Denver Mayor Mike Johnston and New York City Mayor Eric Adams. Those leaders defended their actions on immigration enforcement while Republicans on the committee accused them of increasing crime by defying Trump administration immigration policies.

On Wednesday, House Oversight Republicans released a three-minute digital ad to show “how sanctuary polices do not protect Americans,” which features buzzy news broadcasts about immigration-adjacent crimes, testimony from mayors earlier this spring at the “sanctuary cities” House hearing and video clips of Pritzker, Walz and Hochul speaking about immigration policy.

“Sanctuary governors are shielding CRIMINAL ILLEGAL ALIENS, then pretending the consequences don’t exist. Tomorrow Hochul, Walz, and Pritzker will be in the hot seat as their policies cause CHAOS in their states. Here’s what they don’t want you to see,” the Committee’s official account posted on X.

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