Senator Alex Padilla (D-CA) delivered an emotional speech on the Senate floor this week, recounting his brief arrest during a press conference led by Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem—an event that has quickly become a lightning rod in the escalating political drama surrounding immigration enforcement and public protest.
With his voice quivering, Padilla told his colleagues:
“I was forced to the ground. First on my knees, and then flat on my chest… as I was handcuffed and marched down a hallway, repeatedly asking why I was being detained.”
He concluded with a dramatic warning:
“I pray you never have a moment like this… What will a city already on edge from being militarized think when they see their United States senator handcuffed just for trying to answer a question?”
But critics weren’t buying it.
Ben Shapiro, co-founder of The Daily Wire, blasted the spectacle, calling Padilla’s emotional speech part of a broader Democratic tactic rooted not in policy but “attention-seeking.”
“[Padilla] basically just rushed in and started yelling at her,” Shapiro said. “It’s not like he cleared his presence with security.”
Shapiro argued that Padilla’s brief detainment—reportedly caused by him interrupting a secured press event without identification—was being spun into a self-serving act of martyrdom for media optics.
“If you think of Democrats, at this point, as a series of 5-year-olds who are desperate for mommy’s attention, then their behavior starts to make a lot more sense.”
He went on to cite Cory Booker’s marathon filibuster, and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s 2022 staged “handcuffed” protest outside the Supreme Court, as examples of a pattern: Democrats using spectacle and symbolism to portray themselves as victims of authoritarianism.
Shapiro emphasized what he views as the core of the Democratic playbook:
“The Democrats are solely reliant still on this idea that whoever resists Trump the most strongly wins.”
“They’ve tried this now for a full decade. If your strategy isn’t working after a full decade, you might want to try a different strategy.”
With President Donald Trump’s renewed immigration enforcement policies, including military support for ICE operations in sanctuary states like California, Democrats are increasingly trying to present themselves as the last line of defense against what they frame as authoritarian overreach.
Padilla’s arrest occurred during one such DHS briefing, where Secretary Noem outlined expanded deportation operations. Padilla, according to eyewitness accounts, approached the podium uninvited, raised his voice to interrupt, and was briefly handcuffed for violating security protocol. He was released shortly thereafter without charges.
