Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem blasted Illinois officials Friday after she and her staff were “blocked” from entering a Chicago-area government building while visiting an ICE facility engulfed in weeks of fiery protests.
Noem, 53, shared a video on social media of her team being denied entry to the Village of Broadview Municipal Building, about 12 miles west of downtown Chicago, after requesting to use the bathroom — and slammed Gov. JB Pritzker for empowering his state to snub federal agents.
“We were stopping for a quick bathroom break,” the DHS chief wrote on X.
“This is a public building. The Village of Broadview receives at least $1 million in federal funding every year. This is how JB Pritzker and his cronies treat our law enforcement. Absolutely shameful.”
The footage, taken by conservative commentator Benny Johnson, shows Noem and about a dozen of her plain-clothed staffers approaching the building and politely asking to use the restroom — as a man inside held the door shut and shouted, “No, you cannot.”
The secretary and her group said “thank you” before walking off — with Noem later turning to the camera to rip the governor and local leaders for flaunting their lack of “cooperation” with federal officials.
“So as much as these local leaders and governors talk about cooperating and have the backs of our law enforcement officers, this is what we have to put up with every single day and all we’re doing is getting criminals and terrorists and cartels and gang members off the streets.” she said in the video.
But Broadview village officials shot back, claiming the video failed to show the whole story.
Village spokesperson David Ormsby told CNN that Noem visited Village Hall unannounced asking to meet with Mayor Katrina Thompson, who he says was out of the building at the time.
“The mayor returned her visit,” Ormsby said, adding that he was “distressed” to hear the bathrooms at the ICE facility in Broadview that Noem visited Friday morning were “unavailable.”
“Mayor Thompson went to the ICE center, accompanied by the Broadview Police Chief Thomas, and officers …. The mayor was told by agents at the gate the secretary was unavailable to meet.”
Noem touched down in Illinois Friday morning and was reportedly seen atop the detention center roof — the same site that’s been a hotbed of civil unrest and raging anti-ICE protests.
Pritzker, earlier in the day, slammed Noem’s visit in a flurry of social media posts.
“Secretary Noem should no longer be able to step foot inside the State of Illinois without any form of public accountability,” he said in one post.
Pritzker and Broadview village officials did not immediately respond to The Post’s request for comment.
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