That’s what happened Tuesday with Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem. Visiting Arizona, where she participated in a 100-officer raid that ended in the arrest of only three people, the former governor of South Dakota and Trump’s current deporter-in-chief posed with two law enforcement officers while holding an assault rifle. Or, more specifically, while carelessly pointing the rifle at one of the men next to her.
That prompted Arizona Sen. Ruben Gallego, a Democrat and Marine veteran, to chime in with some advice.
As of Tuesday afternoon, Gallego’s tweet had been liked 9,000 times.1. Close your ejection port.
— Ruben Gallego (@RubenGallego) April 8, 2025
2. If you have no rounds in the chamber why do you have a magazine inserted?
3. If you have rounds in the chamber or in the magazine why are you flagging the guy next to you?
4. Stop deporting people without due process. https://t.co/LMJUqYA9eb
The first three tidbits amount to good gun safety. (Another tip might have been: Don’t shoot your dog and then brag about it in a book.) The fourth would do some good for more than just the people who happen to be near Noem when she’s holding a rifle.
Trump’s DHS has been lawlessly deporting people it shouldn’t and stripping refugees of their legal protections. Even legal immigrants have found themselves targeted by the Trump administration.
Her video is hardly her first ham-handed attempt at posting obvious propaganda, though. Last month, she filmed a video — while wearing a $50,000 watch — in front of shirtless inmates at the infamous El Salvador prison where the Trump administration has been shipping supposed Tren de Aragua members. As Saturday Night Live joked, it looked like Noem was “trying to beat a world record on OnlyFans.”
