Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem speaks to the media outside the White House in Washington, D.C., January 15, 2026. REUTERS/Evelyn Hockstein
Kristi Noem has been caught repeatedly sharing a "completely made up" story about deporting a "cannibal" immigrant, according to The Intercept, casting further doubt on the administration's claims about targeting the "worst of the worst" criminals.
In a report published Monday, The Intercept detailed Noem's past claims about this supposed cannibal, which began back in July. Noem, Trump's Department of Homeland Security Secretary, claimed this story was indicative of the "kind of deranged individuals that are on our streets in America, that we’re trying to target and get out of our country," despite providing no other evidence proving the story was true.
"[Federal agents] detained a cannibal and put him on a plane to take him home, and while they had him in his seat, he started to eat himself," said during a press conference in July.
During a Fox News appearance around the same time, Noem added that a U.S. Marshal "said he was literally eating his own arms. That is what he did. He called himself a cannibal and ate other people and ate himself that day."
Three federal law enforcement sources close to the situation, however, now tell The Intercept that this story was "completely made up," and attribute the made-up story to Noem, rather than any U.S. Marshals or other federal agents.
"That is completely made up,” one anonymous senior official told the outlet. “That never happened."
The senior official further added: "I cannot condone somebody making up a story that absolutely never happened.”
Each source confirmed that no evidence could be located to back up Noem's claim about an alleged cannibal on a deportation flight.
"There was no information about it," one of the sources said. "It never took place. It’s a lie."
When pressed about the story by The Intercept, a DHS spokesperson passed the potential blame for making up the story to the U.S. Marshal that Noem originally claimed had told her about it.
“What ‘fabrication’ of the story of the cannibal?” the spokesperson said in a statement to the outlet. “She was told that story on a deportation flight by one of the Air Marshals.”
