A senator's warning before his arrest On Sen. Alex Padilla's detention by the Trump regime — and the speech that put him in the crosshairs; The Ink, June 12, 2025

The Ink; A senator's warning before his arrest

On Sen. Alex Padilla's detention by the Trump regime — and the speech that put him in the crosshairs

"This afternoon Donald Trump’s aspiration of a police state came one step closer.

A sitting United States senator, Alex Padilla, Democrat of California, was arrested at a Los Angeles press conference held by Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem.

As Noem told the press that the federal government was "going to liberate the city from the burdensome leadership, mayor and governor," Padilla interrupted, saying, “I am Sen. Alex Padilla. I have questions for the secretary," and was then shoved repeatedly out of the room by plainclothes agents, where he was then dropped to the ground, then handcuffed and detained. He has since been released.

This comes as the White House has increasingly dismissed the authority of Congress, and just a day after New Jersey Congresswoman LaMonica McIver was indicted on charges of “assaulting, resisting, impeding, and interfering” with federal officers as she tried to defend Newark Mayor Ras Baraka during an inspection of an ICE facility. 

And it comes a day after Padilla — the first Latino senator to represent California — delivered a speech calling out and condemning the lawlessness of the federal response in his home state and city — and making it clear why it matters to every American.

These words were the senator’s final warning before the Trump regime arrested him. Because they probably don’t want them to spread, we are printing them in full here."

'Completely inappropriate': Kristi Noem opens up after Democratic senator removed from event; Fox News, June 12, 2025

 Martha Maccallum, Fox News ; 'Completely inappropriate': Kristi Noem opens up after Democratic senator removed from event

[Kip Currier: Kristi Noem is lying when she says Sen. Alex Padilla did not identify himself. Padilla clearly and unequivocally identifies himself. Noem's conduct on Fox News is Orwellian.

Fox News anchor Martha Maccallam acquiesces to the inaccurate statement of Noem.

Watch and listen to the recording.

Listen for the person saying "there's no recording allowed in here" while Padilla is handcuffed.]

Senator Alex Padilla Forcibly Removed and Handcuffed After Interrupting Noem; The New York Times, June 12, 2025

Shawn Hubler and Jill Cowan, The New York Times; Senator Alex Padilla Forcibly Removed and Handcuffed After Interrupting Noem

"Gov. Gavin Newsom of California denounced the action. The senator “is one of the most decent people I know,” Mr. Newsom wrote in a social media post. “This is outrageous, dictatorial, and shameful. Trump and his shock troops are out of control. This must end now.”

Word swiftly reached Washington, where Mr. Padilla’s colleagues saw video of the incident.

Senators in both parties raised strong objections to the treatment of Mr. Padilla. “I think it is very disturbing,” said Senator Susan Collins, Republican of Maine, who acknowledged she was unsure what led up to the confrontation. “It looks like he is being manhandled and physically removed. It is hard to imagine a justification for that.”

Senator Chuck Schumer, the minority leader, addressed the Senate floor regarding treatment of Mr. Padilla.

“I just saw something that sickened my stomach,” he said. “The manhandling of a United States Senator. We need immediate answers to what the hell went on.”

An American editorial cartoonist has been fired for skewering Trump. He likely won’t be the last.; The Washington Post, June 15, 2018

Ann Telnaes, The Washington Post; An American editorial cartoonist has been fired for skewering Trump. He likely won’t be the last.

"...[W]ith the firing of Pittsburgh Post-Gazette cartoonist Rob Rogers, we now see that suppressing a free press can be accomplished without an authoritarian president’s orders. Michael Cohen isn’t the only “fixer” Trump has at his disposal.

Rogers has been the editorial cartoonist for the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette for more than 25 years. Most working cartoonists have had an occasional idea spiked by his or her editor. But in the past few weeks, editorial director Keith Burris and publisher John Robinson Block have refused to publish six of Rogers’s cartoons, all criticizing Trump or his policies. Block and Burris have also rejected many of Rogers’s rough sketch ideas for several months.

This wasn’t the first time Block has used his position to defend President Trump’s actions; in January he demanded an editorial run in the Post-Gazette and the Toledo Blade (where he is also the publisher) supporting Trump’s use of the term “shithole countries.”"

Political prisoner hit with another Kafkaesque charge for writing NYT piece about harsh repression by U.S. ally Bahrain; Salon, 9/6/16

Ben Norton, Salon; Political prisoner hit with another Kafkaesque charge for writing NYT piece about harsh repression by U.S. ally Bahrain:

"A prominent human rights activist who already faced up to 15 years in prison for Twitter posts has now been hit with another charge after writing publicly about his Kafkaesque case.

Detained Bahraini activist Nabeel Rajab published an op-ed in The New York Times on Sunday titled “Letter from a Bahraini Jail” (a play on Martin Luther King Jr.’s 1963 “Letter from Birmingham Jail”)...

The U.S. State Department has publicly called on Bahrain to release Rajab. It also said it has “raised concerns with the government of Bahrain, particularly on this case.” But Rajab argues the U.S. is not doing enough."