Padilla should be charged with assault to avoid 'two systems of justice' J6 defense lawyer says

A lawyer for several defendants charged in connection with the January 6 riot is among those arguing that the California Democratic senator who shoved federal agents during a press conference on Thursday should be prosecuted, with the defense lawyer saying charges are necessary to avoid the appearance of “two systems of justice.”

Sen. Alex Padilla (D-Calif.) loudly disrupted a press conference being given by Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noema this week and, as federal agents sought to remove Padilla from the room, the California senator repeatedly resisted their efforts and forcefully pushed back at them. Bill Shipley, who defended dozens of people charged in connection with the Capitol riot, responded to the news on Thursday by tweeting, “Charge him. Many J6 defendants went to federal prison for many, many months, having done a lot less.”

On Thursday, Noem was holding a press conference at a federal building in West Los Angeles, where she criticized two Democratic leaders in California, Gov. Gavin Newsom and Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass, over what she saw as their failures in the midst of protests — many of which have turned violent — against an illegal immigration crackdown by U.S. Customs and Border Enforcement (ICE).

Padilla's guerrilla outburst

Just before Padilla’s outburst at the press conference, Noem told the assembled reporters that “the Department of Homeland Security and the officers and the agencies in the department and the military people that are working on this operation will continue to sustain and increase our operations in this city. We are not going away. We are staying here to liberate this city from the socialist and the burdensome leadership that this governor and this mayor have placed on this country and what they have tried to insert into this city.”

At that point, roughly six minutes into Noem’s press conference, Padilla — who was not invited to speak — forced his way to the front of the room off to Noem’s left and near a wall, with a clear view path between himself and the secretary. Padilla tried to charge to the front of the press conference, shouting to Noem, “Madame Secretary, I want to know why you insist on exaggerating and embellishing—”

Dressed in a polo shirt and windbreaker, and without identifying himself by name nor as a senator, Padilla was blocked by United States Secret Service agents who began to push Padilla toward the back of the room. Padilla resisted their efforts, and physically grappled with them. Padilla continued to struggle against the efforts by one of the agents — a member of Noem’s Secret Service detail. At this point, the senator yelled, “I am Senator Alex Padilla. I have questions for the secretary.”

As the Secret Service agent attempted to hold Padilla by the arms and move him backward out of the room, Padilla grabbed at the agent’s arms in an effort to free himself, then used his right elbow or forearm to try to push against the agent’s chest in an apparent effort to shove the officer away and slip past him to the left and, presumably, make his way back toward Noem. 

Padilla, who is reportedly more than 6 feet tall, gave a full push, seemingly driving the full weight of his body into the agent. Another agent joined in pushing Padilla out of the room, and as the senator was pushed out the door and into the hallway, Padilla yelled, “Hands off!”

Padilla was then moved to his knees and then made to lay flat on the ground by FBI agents in the hallway, who handcuffed him.

Defense lawyer says J6 defendants were charged for doing what Padilla did

“His refusal to comply is ‘resisting’ and ‘opposing’ under Sec. 111(a) [18 U.S. Code § 111],” Shipley, who goes by Shipwreckedcrew on X, tweeted on Thursday. “Both are crimes. Both are felonies when there is physical contact with the officer. Look it up. Hundreds of J6 defendants are quite familiar with the charge and the elements.”

The federal law he was citing relates to “assaulting, resisting, or impeding certain officers or employees” and applies to anyone who “forcibly assaults, resists, opposes, impedes, intimidates, or interferes with” federal officers who are “engaged in” or “on account of the performance of” their “official duties.” Dozens of defendants in Capitol riot cases were hit with that charge.

In circumstances like this, violating 18 U.S.C. § 111(a) can be a Class D felony offense with a maximum penalty of 8 years in prison, up to 5 years of probation, and a fine of up to $250,000.

The Biden Justice Department said in January 2025 that “during the siege of the Capitol that day, over 140 police officers were assaulted” and that “approximately 608” defendants had been “charged with assaulting, resisting, or impeding law enforcement agents or officers or obstructing those officers during a civil disorder, including approximately 174 defendants charged with using a deadly or dangerous weapon or causing serious bodily injury to an officer.”

The Capitol riot defense lawyer was not the only one who called for Padilla to be charged.

Mike Davis, a Trump ally and the president of the conservative Article III Project, tweeted on Thursday that “Padilla assaulted federal officers” and said prosecutors should “charge him with federal crimes.”

“He should be charged. He should be prosecuted,” Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) also said on Thursday, arguing that Padilla “came in very aggressively” and “actually fought police.”

One law for me, another for thee

“Sen. Padilla needs to be charged. The political class cannot escape the consequences of their bad decisions. That would only further reinforce the idea that there are two systems of justice,” Shipley tweeted on Thursday. “Further, not charging him affirms the idea that physical resistance to law enforcement's performance of their official duties is excusable. That will then be reflected in the streets and the question will become, ‘How much force is too much, and up to that point I'm ok.’ You can't ask law enforcement to do its job under those rules.”

The defense lawyer also pointed Just the News to a number of the January 6 defendants whom he had as clients, including Dale Shalvey and David Mehaffie.

The Justice Department said in May 2023 that Shalvey was sentenced to 41 months in prison for “assaulting, resisting, or impeding law enforcement officers and obstruction of an official proceeding.”

“At approximately 2:09PM, Shalvey walked to a bike rack on the West Front of the Capitol, which was to act as a barricade, and assaulted law enforcement officers by throwing an object that hit an officer with the Metropolitan Police Department,” the DOJ press release said. Shipley told Just the News that the object his client had thrown was a potato chip bag.

“At approximately 2:20PM, Shalvey… entered the Capitol through the Senate Wing door and then moved to various areas within the building, including the Crypt, the House’s Suite, the Rotunda, and the Senate Chamber,” the DOJ press release said. “Inside the Senate Chamber, Shalvey… looked through Senators’ desks... Shalvey also took a letter written by Senator Mitt Romney to Vice President Michael Pence from a Senator’s desk and destroyed it after leaving the Capitol. They exited the building at approximately 3:05PM.”

The DOJ said in February 2023 that Mehaffie was sentenced to 14 months in prison “for two felony charges: aiding and abetting in assaulting, resisting, or impeding law enforcement officers, and interfering with a law enforcement officer during a civil disorder” as well as six months in prison “for two misdemeanor charges: disorderly conduct in a Capitol Building and aiding and abetting in committing an act of violence in the Capitol Building or grounds.”

Padilla previously joined Democrats in saying "No one is above the law"

For what seems like years, Democratic Party members have long been arguing that President Trump should be opposed, indicted and jailed because, as the talking point went, "No one is above the law." Former President Joe Biden, New York Attorney General Letitia James, failed presidential candidate Kamala Harris, and many other Democrats made the phrase a keystone point in their campaign against Trump.

So deeply had the phrase been ingrained in opposition to Trump that left-leaning Common Cause went as far as encouraging the public to sign a petition by that name.

Ironically, although the videotape clearly shows Padilla assaulting federal law enforcement officers, in March, he himself latched onto the phrase in a self-promotional campaign release, where he used the phrase repeatedly and said, "The Trump Administration is clearly, openly laying the groundwork to reject all of these principles. They’re operating under the idea that the President, his cabinet of loyalists, and an unelected billionaire “advisor” can simply ignore the law or courts in rulings that they disagree with."

Padilla also took advantage of his authority and gave the same speech to an empty Senate chamber to make the same allegations in order to create a C-SPAN video that he later promoted on X.

President Donald Trump eventually issued pardons and commutations in January of this year to the hundreds of defendants who had been charged by the DOJ for their involvement in the Capitol riot, many of whom did nothing that Padilla didn't do.

Just the News revealed this week that declassified intelligence now shows that most of the alleged rise in the number of domestic terrorism cases repeatedly cited by the Biden administration, the Justice Department and the FBI as a basis for instituting a sweeping expansion in federal law enforcement was actually tied to one single event that tipped the scales in their favor: the Capitol riot.

Claims he was merely "asking a question"

Padilla defended his actions in a Thursday video, where he explained why he interrupted Noem at her press conference and claimed that he had identified himself prior to his disruption. The videos show, in fact, that he did not identify himself until after he bum-rushed the podium and was blocked by the federal agents on security detail.

“I just couldn’t accept the rhetoric anymore, so I had the audacity to try to ask a question. I introduced myself. ‘I’m Senator Alex Padilla and I have a question.’ And it took all of maybe a second for multiple agents to forcibly remove me from the room, to pin me on the ground, and handcuff me,” Padilla said, failing to mention that he had repeatedly pushed back against federal agents. “Now, I’m okay for people wondering how I’m doing — I’m okay. But the big lesson here is, if they can do that to me, if they’re willing to do that to me — a United States senator with a question, doing my job on behalf of the people of California and our country, what are they doing to a lot of the folks who are out there when the cameras aren’t on?”

DHS: "disrespectful political theater" and "interrupted a live press conference"

“After he interrupted our press conference with law enforcement, I met with Senator Padilla for 15 minutes. We probably disagree on 90% of the topics but we agreed to exchange phone numbers and we will continue to talk—that is the way it should be in this country,” Noem said on X. “I wish he would’ve acted that way in the beginning rather than creating a scene.”

Tricia McLaughlin, the Assistant Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, also weighed in on Thursday.

“Senator Padilla chose disrespectful political theatre and interrupted a live press conference without identifying himself or having his Senate security pin on as he lunged toward Secretary Noem,” McLaughlin contended on X. “Mr. Padilla was told repeatedly to back away and did not comply with officers’ repeated commands. @SecretService thought he was an attacker and officers acted appropriately.”

McLaughlin added that the video showed “Padilla pushing and shoving law enforcement officers to get his way back to the podium” and called it “incredibly aggressive behavior from a sitting U.S. Senator. No one knew who he was.”

Newsom on Thursday condemned the response by federal agents to Padilla’s disruption, saying “@SenAlexPadilla is one of the most decent people I know,” the California governor said on X. “This is outrageous, dictatorial, and shameful. Trump and his shock troops are out of control. This must end now.”

Kamala Harris — the ex-vice president and a former Democratic senator from California — tweeted on Thursday that Padilla “was representing the millions of Californians who are demanding answers to this Administration’s actions in Southern California. This is a shameful and stunning abuse of power.”

FBI deputy director Dan Bongino on Thursday tweeted that “with regard to the incident in LA this afternoon, the Senator in question was not wearing a security pin and physically resisted law enforcement when confronted. Our FBI personnel acted completely appropriately while assisting Secret Service and we are grateful for their professionalism and service.”

FBI spokesman Ben Williamson similarly tweeted on Thursday that “when someone wearing no identification becomes disruptive, walks toward a Cabinet Secretary mid-presser, and then resists law enforcement stopping him — then it doesn’t really matter who you say you are” and argued that “the Senator put our officers in an unnecessarily difficult position, and they handled it exactly as they’re supposed to.”

New Jersey congresswoman learns "rule of law" the hard way

Shipley had previously similarly defended the federal charges brought against Rep. LaMonica McIver (D-N.J.), who was charged last month and later indicted this month after allegedly shoving one federal officer and grabbing another outside an ICE detention facility in Newark, New Jersey in early May.

“To @MSNBC - quit beclowning yourselves. ‘Assault’ under 18 USC Sec. 111(a) only requires ‘forceful unwanted touching.’ Any form of ‘push’ is an assault, as hundreds of J6 defendants had the painful experience of being told by federal judges,” Shipley said on X on May 20.

U.S. Attorney Alina Habba tweeted last month that the Democratic congresswoman had “assaulted, impeded, and interfered with law enforcement in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 111 (a)(1).” The Trump ally and federal prosecutor said that “it is my Constitutional obligation to ensure that our federal law enforcement is protected when executing their duties” and that “no one is above the law — politicians or otherwise.”

“The charges against me are purely political — they mischaracterize and distort my actions, and are meant to criminalize and deter legislative oversight,” McIver said in a statement posted on X on May 19. “This administration will never stop me from working for the people in our district and standing up for what is right.”