Schumer Demands to Know ‘What the Hell’ Happened After Federal Agents Force Dem Senator to the Ground and Cuff Him

Francis Chung/POLITICO via AP Images

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) took to the Senate floor and fumed after video of Sen. Alex Padilla (D-CA) being tackled to the ground and handcuffed by federal agents went viral Thursday.

“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,” Schumer said on the Senate floor. Reactions of anger and show came from across the political spectrum, as Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) said, “I’ve seen that one clip. It’s horrible. It is shocking at every level. It’s not the America I know.”

Read more reactions here.

Padilla tried to interrupt a press conference being held by Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem when he was shoved out of the room and eventually taken to the ground by federal authorities.

“I’m Senator Alex Padilla, I have questions for the secretary,” Padilla could be heard saying as four staffers grabbed him and forced him toward the doors. “Because the fact of the matter of is, a half-a-dozen violent criminals, that you’re rotating on your — on your — HANDS OFF!”

Later video showed federal agents forcing him face down to the ground as they zip-tied his hands together.

Watch the clip above via C-SPAN.

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