TURLEY: Questioning Free Speech Limits Amid Padilla-Noem Outburst, LA Riots  

As the riots in Los Angeles continue to rage and temperatures still flare from Thursday’s debacle when a U.S. senator forcibly entered a press event for Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and began shouting at her, a nationally renowned free speech expert weighed in on the tense political atmosphere and the looming questions of the limits of free speech.  

Legal scholar and Fox News contributor Jonathan Turley is known for his unwavering defense of the First Amendment, allowing for restrictions on speech only in the case of “imminent danger,” when the violent conduct of the offender warrants censorship of the content. 

In an interview with The Daily Signal, Turley noted that violent conduct is not the same as “hate speech,” which has more recently been censored extensively, particularly on college campuses. “Hate speech is protected,” he explained, “and it’s disconcerting to see many Democratic leaders repeatedly state that it is not.” 

Turley was clear in his analysis of the violence of the LA riots: “Of course, people are allowed to wave the Mexican flag and to say most anything they want in Los Angeles about the immigration enforcement policy. What they’re not allowed to do is to violate the law.” 

“That’s the line between conduct and content,” he explained. “Waving the Mexican flag is fine. Using it as a spear is not. … The people being arrested are being arrested for criminal conduct. You’re not allowed to destroy American property; you’re not allowed to assault federal personnel; you’re not allowed to violate city ordinances. There’s a very clear line between conduct and content.” 

Tensions over the West Coast riots boiled over when Sen. Alex Padilla, D-Calif., was handcuffed and forced out of a press briefing Noem was giving about arrests Immigration and Customs Enforcement was carrying out in LA Thursday. After bursting into the room, Padilla began shouting at Noem while resisting security officers who were attempting to hold him back from rushing the podium. 

Several prominent members of the Democratic Party, including Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., released statements on X following Padilla’s outburst, calling the actions of Noem’s security a “manhandling” and an “assault.”  

Warren called for Noem’s resignation, posting a video on X in which she appeared somewhat emotional as she said, “What we’re really talking about here is a Trump administration that just wants to shut down the ordinary functions of government.” 

Warren posted a video hours later, declaring, “Every day, Donald Trump is making this nation look more and more like a fascist state.” 

In response to Padilla’s outburst, Turley posted on X, “The scene captured the race to the bottom by Democratic politicians in fueling the rage as violent protests unfolded around the country.” 

Turley told The Daily Signal, “Most of us watching the event live were astonished to hear this outburst in the middle of the secretary’s remarks, and then later to find out it was a U.S. senator. … Even as a U.S. senator, it does not give you a privilege to go to a press conference, start yelling at a Cabinet member, and disrupt a press conference.” 

Turley condemned Padilla’s violence: “The problem is that these Democratic leaders lionizing Sen. Padilla are only legitimating the extreme conduct of many of their followers. They are suggesting that what Padilla did was commendable. It wasn’t commendable. He was trying to be disruptive. He was acting more as a troll than as a senator. And there was a time when few senators would have tolerated that conduct from a colleague.” 

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