Los Angeles, CA — Following the violent removal of US Senator Alex Padilla at a press conference held by the Department of Homeland Security in Los Angeles, California, the League of Women Voters of the United States and League of Women Voters of California issued the following statement: 

“The League of Women Voters strongly condemns the violent treatment of California Senator Alex Padilla for asking a question during a press conference. Senator Padilla was using his right as a US senator to question the appointed leader of a taxpayer-funded federal agency. 

“Make no mistake: there is absolutely zero place in our democracy for treating a sitting Senator — for that matter, anyone — this way.  

“This is a deeply troubling escalation by federal agents — the latest egregious move to silence and intimidate anyone who attempts to hold this administration accountable for its increasingly tyrannical actions. 

“We will not, must not, let this become the new normal. The League of Women Voters calls on the administration to immediately stop targeting elected officials who are simply fulfilling their oversight duties.”