Trump official vows to ‘liberate’ LA, Democratic US senator handcuffed and taken away

US department of homeland security secretary Kristi Noem pledged to "liberate" Los Angeles on Thursday at a press conference that was dramatically interrupted when federal agents dragged a Democratic senator out of the room, forced him to the ground and handcuffed him.

Senator Alex Padilla of California was forcibly ejected after he tried to ask Noem a question during her press conference in LA, Reuters video showed. Noem said later  Padilla had not identified himself as a senator during the scuffle, but the video shows him doing so.

Noem, who later met with Padilla and said the two agreed to talk further, was in the city after days of protests against federal immigration raids by President Donald Trump's administration.

Trump, a Republican, has deployed the national guard and marines, despite objections from the state's Democratic governor, Gavin Newsom, and other officials, who said the move is unnecessary and illegal.

The president has defended his decision, saying if he had not done so the city would be in flames. The protests so far have been mostly peaceful, punctuated by incidents of violence and restricted to a few city blocks.

"We're going to stay here and build our operations until we make sure we liberate the city of LA," Noem said.

LA mayor Karen Bass called on immigration and customs enforcement (ICE) officers to stand down from the intensified series of raids that led to the protests, saying the local economy could be harmed as immigrants stayed home from work and school for fear of being snatched off the streets.

"The peace we need to have happen needs to begin in Washington, and we need to stop the raids," Bass told a press conference as guests flanking her broke out in a chant of "Stop the raids".

"Peace begins with ICE leaving Los Angeles," said Bass, who nonetheless has imposed a nighttime curfew over one square mile of downtown LA.

Bass also expressed support for Padilla who, video showed, was forced to lie on the ground in a corridor outside the press conference room by federal agents, who handcuffed his hands behind his back.

The department of homeland security said secret service agents believed Padilla was an "attacker" who did not comply with orders to back away.

Padilla met with reporters after the incident and told them: "If this is how the department of homeland security responds to a senator with a question, you can only imagine what they're doing to farmers to cooks to day labourers throughout the LA community and throughout California and throughout the country."

Noem said later on X she met with Padilla, and though they disagree on "90% of the topics" and she accused him of "creating a scene", they exchanged phone numbers and agreed to keep talking.

"That is the way it should be in this country," Noem said.

About 700 marines will be on the streets of the city by Thursday or Friday, the military has said, to support up to 4,000 national guard troops protecting federal property and federal agents, including durinng immigration raids.

The state of California was seeking a federal court order on Thursday that would stop troops from patrolling the streets of LA and limit their role to protecting federal personnel and property. California's lawsuit ultimately seeks to rescind Trump's order to deploy the national guard to the area.

In a court filing before Thursday's hearing on the matter, California argued the federal government has violated the law by having national guard troops assist immigration agents in raids.

Throughout the hearing, US district judge Charles Breyer appeared skeptical of the Trump administration's assertion that the courts had no right to second-guess the president's determinations that the military's deployment was necessary to enforce the law.

"I try to distinguish in my mind how is that any different than what a monarch does?" Breyer said.

"This country was founded in response to a monarchy, and the constitution is a document of limitations."

Breyer ended the hearing without issuing a decision on California's request that he restrict the military's activities, but said he was hopeful he would have a ruling before the end of the day.

At the hearing, Nicholas Green, a lawyer for California, held up a photograph posted on social media by ICE showing armed members of the national guard standing next to ICE agents during arrests.

The state argued the guardsmen crossed the line into illegal activity under the 1878 Posse Comitatus Act, which prohibits the military from participating in civilian law enforcement.

"If this is not domestic law enforcement by the military, I don't know what would be," Green said.

Trump is carrying out a campaign promise to deport immigrants, employing forceful tactics consistent with the norm-breaking political style that got him elected twice.

Americans are divided over Trump's decision to activate the military, according to a Reuters/Ipsos poll that showed 48% of respondents agreed with a statement that the president should "deploy the military to bring order to the streets" when protests turn violent, while 41% disagreed.

Reuters