Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Kristi Noem revealed in a podcast this week how her purse was snatched at a restaurant in Washington, D.C., describing it as “professionally done.”
The purse was taken Sunday by a White man wearing a mask, and the bag contained $3,000 in cash as well as personal documents including her passport, keys, driver’s license and a DHS badge, an agency spokesperson confirmed.
“It was kind of shocking, actually, because it was sitting right by my feet. I actually felt my purse, he hooked it with his foot and drug it a few steps away and dropped a coat over it and took it,” Noem said on the “VINCE Show.”
“I felt it, but I thought it was my grandkids kicking me in the legs. But it was very professionally done, and it tells that this happens all the time to people and that they live in communities where this is a danger and it reaffirms why I am here,” she added. “My job is to make sure that I do everything, every day I can to make our communities safer and President Trump recognizes that families shouldn’t have to live with any kind of violence in their lives.”
NOEM’S PURSE WAS STOLEN DAYS AFTER SIMILAR INCIDENT JUST BLOCKS AWAY: REPORT
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem is recognized as President Donald Trump speaks during an event to announce new tariffs in the Rose Garden at the White House in Washington, D.C., on April 2. (AP/Mark Schiefelbein)
A Homeland Security spokesperson previously told Fox News Digital that Noem’s “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.”
Noem said during the podcast interview that she isn’t sure why she was targeted, but an investigation is ongoing.
NOEM’S PURSE STOLEN WITH THOUSANDS OF DOLLARS IN DC RESTAURANT: SOURCES
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem speaks during a tour of the Terrorist Confinement Center in Tecoluca, El Salvador, on March 26. (AP/Alex Brandon)
“I think I was a busy grandma with four grandkids under the age of 4, and I was taking care of them and feeding them food and enjoying my family, but certainly had my purse even touching my feet and that is how vulnerable people can be,” she said.
“So I think we need to be aware, but also be making sure there is consequences for people like that that make a living off of harming other people,” Noem added.
Kristi Noem, secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, is seen during a meeting with President Donald Trump and Nayib Bukele, El Salvador’s president, in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, D.C., on April 14. (Ken Cedeno/UPI/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
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A woman dining with her family recently had her purse stolen in downtown Washington, D.C., just a few blocks away from the restaurant where Noem’s handbag was swiped, NBC News also reported this week.
Fox News’ Cameron Arcand contributed to this report.