June 12, 2025
WASHINGTON, DC – Senator Angela Alsobrooks (D-Md.) went to the Senate Floor today to speak after disturbing footage of Senator Alex Padilla being manhandled was released. Full transcript of Senator Alsobrooks’ remarks below:
WATCH SENATOR ALOSBROOKS FULL REMARKS HERE
“Mr. President, I stand today and I am shaking.
“I am so angry.
“I am so enraged with the treatment that I witnessed today of my colleague, Senator Padilla. This is not the America that each of us comes here each day to stand on behalf of. There are some who are saying they don’t recognize this America. And I want to ring the bell today for all who are watching, for all who are listening.
“We have now crossed a line. This is a dangerous day in the history of our country. When a Senator who was in a federal building, where he had a right to be, to do an oversight responsibility on behalf of the citizens who have elected him to the Senate of the United States. And when he was there to carry out his duties, he was there peacefully – and he decided to ask a question.
“And in Donald Trump’s America, asking a question and pushing back caused him to be manhandled for the whole world to see. Manhandled. Treated like a person who had come off the streets. The thuggish behavior that I saw today is absolutely unacceptable. To put hands on this peaceful man – who is not only a senator, he’s a father, he’s a husband, he’s a person, he’s a venerable part of our society who was there on behalf of the people who have elected him. And who was treated violently today.
“You could see his hands up in the air.
“And that was not enough.
“He was taken to the ground, and he was handcuffed. And what was the explanation that was given? It was an explanation that any reasonable person can look at and knows will be a full-on lie – that he looked like an attacker.
“Well if this doesn’t cause every person under the sound of my voice to shudder today, I don’t know what to say about it.
“Because today it’s Senator Padilla. And you know what? Tomorrow it could be any one of us. This is NOT what democracy looks like. This is anything but a democracy.
“The right to free speech is sacred in our country. The right to free speech is sacred. And today we watched it violated in horrible ways that we will account for.
“We, as a country, if we continue along this road, I tell you — we will account for it.
“It was Dr. Martin Luther King who said that the arc of the moral universe is long but it does bend toward justice. This injustice cannot stand. This cannot stand. And I tell you, America, let’s be careful. We cannot continue along this road. We absolutely cannot.
“We must continue to encourage and allow free speech. It is the right of every person in this country. And today I am sickened, and I am angry, and something must happen.
“These people must be held to account for what happened to Senator Padilla today. I yield”.
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