A purse snatcher allegedly made off with $3,000 cash and other personal items belonging to Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, Fox News reported. A masked man stole Noem's bag Sunday night, which included the money, her driver's license, keys, passport, blank checks, and DHS badge.
The alleged crime happened as Noem dined with her family in a Washington, D.C., restaurant on Easter Sunday. The city is known for its theft problem, even as violent crime hit a historic low last year.
A spokesperson claimed the dinner and other holiday-related expenses explained the large sum of cash in her bag. "Her entire family was in town, including her children and grandchildren – she was using the withdrawal to treat her family to dinner, activities, and Easter gifts," the spokesperson said.
Still, it's unclear how this crime occurred, as Noem has a Secret Service detail. The investigation is ongoing, but so far, there are more questions than answers.
Committing burglary against a high-ranking government official shows a severe lack of security in the nation's capital. President Donald Trump was already urging Democratic Mayor Muriel Bowser to do something about the problems, including homeless encampments and other crimes.
Trump said that the city should be "the pride of every American to who it belongs" but that Bowers and other politicians need to beef up law enforcement. "Washington, D.C., must become CLEAN and SAFE again!" Trump wrote on his Truth Social account last month.
"We need our Great Police back on the street, with no excuses from the Mayor, or anyone else. The House should take up the D.C. funding 'fix' that the Senate has passed, and get it done IMMEDIATELY," Trump urged.
"We need to clean up our once beautiful Capital City, and make it beautiful again. We will be TOUGH ON CRIME, like never before," the president added.
"I will work with the Mayor on this and, if it does not happen, will have no choice but to do it myself. Washington, D.C., will be better, safer, and more beautiful than ever before!" Trump wrote.
Still, Trump's call to arms didn't come soon enough for Noem. According to CNN, the fact that a white mask-wearing man could take her things raises serious concerns, the network's law enforcement analyst, Jonathan Wackrow, said.
“This is a security breach that actually has high consequences, and it needs immediate and further review by the Secret Service, DHS, and other law enforcement partners. If necessary, the Secret Service will need to make operational changes on how they deal with these types of private events moving forward," Wackrow told Kaitlan Collins on The Source.
The former Secret Service agent pointed out that Noem is "at higher risk for targeted threats, both by foreign and domestic actors, and just her public profile alone makes her a symbolic target." Meanwhile, one user on X, formerly Twitter, likened the Secret Service's failure to an excuse made about why it also failed to secure the roof where a would-be assassin perched to fire at Trump during a July rally.
Apparently, @KristiNoem’s Secret Service detail couldn’t protect her purse b/c she left it on a gently sloping table. pic.twitter.com/I8j2tOWacd
— Jason “Storm Chaser” Nelson (@RealJasonNelson) April 22, 2025
How this thief managed to get past the Secret Service and take her personal items is certainly puzzling. There seems to be more to this story than a simple purse snatching, but so far there has been no additional information provided.
