Handcuffed! Democrat Senator Alex Padilla forcibly removed from Kristi Noem's news conference in Los Angeles

US Senator Alex Padilla, a Democrat, was reportedly handcuffed to the ground and removed by security for attempting to ask a question during Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem's press conference in Los Angeles, according to a Reuters report.

Noem was in Los Angeles to address the ongoing protests against President Donald Trump's immigration policies, which have even seen the deployment of the US National Guard in the Democrat-run state.

"I am Senator Alex Padilla. I have questions for the secretary," Padilla was quoted as saying during the press conference where the DHS Secretary was discussing about the protests in Los Angeles over President Donald Trump's immigration policies.

Padilla, according to Reuters, was handcuffed, shoved into the ground by security and then removed from the press conference venue. "Hands off," Padilla was heard saying before he was pushed out of the room by some men. A video that surfaced online showed Padilla being escorted out of the venue by agents.

According to the San Francisco Chronicle, just before Sen. Alex Padilla attempted to speak at her news conference Thursday, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem spoke on the Trump administration’s crackdown on immigration and protests in L.A.: “We are not going away.”

Social media is currently flooded with reactions on the incident, with some backing Padilla and free speech, while some are claiming that he overstepped a boundary.

An X user wrote,"Why is Senator Alex Padilla using so much of his body weight to resist the officers who are there to enforce peaceful proceedings? Aren’t there more diplomatic ways for a U.S. Senator to get his questions heard than to push himself to the front and center of such a gathering?"

"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," the department said, adding that Noem later met with Padilla, according to a report by Reuters.