Rash: Different interpretations of the same event reflects a deeply divided nation

Opinion editor’s note: Strib Voices publishes a mix of commentary online and in print each day. To contribute, click here.

•••

“Rashomon,” the seminal Japanese film in which the same event is recounted differently by different witnesses, was so influential it gave rise to a term describing the dynamic: the Rashomon effect. An example of this effect occurred Thursday, when America’s deep divisions were on vivid display in reaction to the coverage of California Democratic Sen. Alex Padilla’s forcible removal from a news conference conducted by Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem.

The visceral video provoked outrage from fellow senators — mostly Democratic, but some Republican.

The incident “reeks of totalitarianism,” said Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y. “This is not what democracies do. Sen. Padilla was there legitimately in that building to ask questions of what’s going on in California, which everybody wants to know answers to. We don’t get answers when we ask the administration’s questions in one way or another. Sen. Padilla was exercising his duty as a senator for his constituents to try to find out what happened.”

“I’ve seen the one clip,” said Alaska Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski. “It’s horrible. It is shocking at every level. It’s not the America I know.”

On X, the White House posted a video of the news conference captioned: “Democrats will stop at nothing to put criminal illegals over American citizens.”

Just like the Trump administration, the Department of Homeland Security took to X to try to x-out unfavorable interpretations of the event, writing that: “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.

“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.”

Video confirms that Padilla did identify himself, saying “Sir! Sir! Hands off! I am Senator Alex Padilla; I have a question for the secretary.” And far from “lunging” or “charging” the secretary, as some Republicans, including House Speaker Mike Johnson, have alleged, Padilla was so far away from Noem that not only did she not answer the question, she didn’t even break from her talking points. (Noem and Padilla, who was handcuffed but not detained after the disruption, did have a conversation afterward, Noem said.)

The heavy-handed response to Padilla isn’t an individual incident for elected officials challenging administration immigration policy. Rep. LaMonica McIver and Newark Mayor Ras Baraka, both Democrats, tangled with federal agents at a detention facility in May, resulting in indictments of McIver. News media and police body cameras recorded portions of the event, but once again the Rashomon effect is in play, with McIver contradicting the government’s version, claiming she was there to exercise her legal right to a congressional oversight visit of the facility.

Countless cameras — from reporters and protesters alike — will be brandished amid the national “No Kings Day” protests planned on Saturday, as well as at the parade planned to mark the U.S. Army’s 250th anniversary (and, critics contend, President Donald Trump’s 79th birthday). What’s needed this weekend and going forward are not more instances of the Rashomon effect, but a rational effect brought on by cooler heads prevailing.

Especially when the cameras aren’t capturing incidents, however disputed.

That aspect was the focus of an emotional Padilla as he ended his brief address to the press after the incident. At this time of tension over the administration’s aggressive immigration enforcement, Padilla poignantly said, “If this is how the Department of Homeland Security responds to a senator with a question, you can only imagine what they’re doing to farmworkers, to cooks, to day laborers out in the Los Angeles community and throughout California and throughout the country.”