A day after federal agents forcibly restrained and handcuffed U.S. Sen Alex Padilla at a Los Angeles news conference, leaders of the country’s two political parties responded in what has become a predictable fashion — with diametrically opposed takes on the incident.

The senator is known on Capitol Hill for being kind and nerdy. His forcible removal from a news conference resonated as a call to action among Democrats.

Sen. Alex Padilla (D-Calif.) said Sunday that a member of the National Guard and an FBI agent escorted him into Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem's press conference last week before he was forcefully removed.

California U.S. Senator Alex Padilla Leads Entire Senate Democratic Caucus in Demanding President Trump Remove Military Forces From Los Angeles

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem accused Sen. Alex Padilla of "lunging" at her, justifying officers forcing him to the ground and handcuffing him. It's part of a broader strategy by the Trump administration to stoke fear to justify violence.

Chaotic scenes in which Sen. Alex Padilla (D-Calif.) was pressed to the ground and handcuffed by federal agents set the political world aflame Thursday. Padilla had come to a news conference being

California Sen. Alex Padilla is getting plenty of mileage out of his scuffle with the Secret Service and federal authorities in Los Angeles Thursday. Padilla’s Senate and campaign X.com

Bay Area Republican strategist Matt Shupe described Padilla’s attempt to abruptly question Noem “pure political theatrics.”