"Because the incident was so sudden, and most cameras were trained on Noem as she began the press conference with deeply partisan prepared remarks, much of the initial video that circulated online did not actually show where Padilla was standing in relation to Noem when he tried to interrupt with his question.
"But one CBS News camera captured the exact moment that Padilla interrupted Noem, just after she said that federal forces, including the military, deployed by the Trump administration to Los Angeles to aid in immigration sweeps, 'are not going away. We are staying here to liberate this city from the socialist and burdensome leadership that this governor and that this mayor have placed on this country, and what they have tried to insert into this city.'
"It was at this point in the CBS recording that Padilla could be heard beginning his question with the words 'Madam Secretary, I want to know why you insist on exaggerating —'. As Noem continued reading her remarks, without even pausing, the CBS camera panned to show Padilla, at some distance from her across the room.
"Just three seconds into the incident, Padilla could be seen standing, with his left hand raised slightly in a rhetorical gesture, and trying to continue with his question, as a security officer placed his hand on the Senator’s chest and began pushing him away from the front of the room.
"There is no visual evidence in the clip to suggest that Padilla was moving in Noem's direction when he started speaking, or was ever within 10 to 15 feet of her.
"Noem's decision to ignore the interruption and continue reading her remarks also did not look or sound like the behavior of someone who had been lunged at.
"Democrats, including Senator Tina Smith of Minnesota, pointed out that video of the incident also makes it plain that Noem's second claim, that Padilla did not identify himself, was false. At the nine-second mark of the CBS clip, the Senator can clearly be heard telling the officers pulling him from the room, 'I am Senator Alex Padilla. I have questions for the Secretary.'
"'Liars,' Smith replied on social media to a post from the official Homeland Security account, which said that Padilla had not identified himself."
—The Guardian, Thursday, June 11
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