Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum on Tuesday accused a “drunk” man of harassing her, calling the incident “an assault against all women.”
Mexico City Mayor Clara Brugada said the man was arrested overnight and is being held at the Sexual Crimes Investigation Department.
The incident occurred on Tuesday in Mexico City, where a man appears to break through a crowd of people greeting Sheinbaum and grope her, according to footage of the incident that went viral.
The video showed a man approaching Sheinbaum. As bystanders near the center of the Zocalo looked on, the man touched her breasts and appeared to try to kiss her. The case ended with the intervention of one of her inner circle, Juan José Ramírez Mendoza.
The episode sparked outrage online and renewed debate over harassment and women’s safety in public.
Mexico City police said preliminary investigation results linked the individual to harassment charges against two other women on the same day. CNN is trying to determine whether the man has legal representation for comment.
Sheinbaum, Mexico’s first female president, announced on Wednesday that she was willing to take legal action against the man, whom she described as “completely drunk.”
“I decided to press charges because this is what I have experienced as a woman and what all women in this country have experienced,” she said. “No one has the right to invade that space,” she said.
She added that this is not the first time she has experienced harassment. Throughout her career, Sheinbaum has been candid about the harassment she has suffered in the past. In 2021, as Mexico’s mayor, she shared a video for International Women’s Day in which she recalls being harassed on public transport when she was 12 years old and being harassed by a professor as a student.
Tuesday’s incident raised questions about Sheinbaum’s safety. The incident comes days after Uruapan Mayor Carlos Manzo was brutally assassinated during a Day of the Dead public event, raising questions about the level of security oversight required of public officials.
Mr. Sheinbaum, like his predecessor Andres Manuel López Obrador, chose not to maintain the presidential guard, which was disbanded in 2018.
Security analyst Raul Benitez-Manaut told CNN Spanish that the decision left a gap in high-level protection: “After the disbandment of the Presidential Guard, a professional protection system was not rebuilt. Sheinbaum relies on a small team of aides rather than a professional border patrol force.”
Sheinbaum defended his approach Wednesday. “We cannot be far from our people. That would be denying who we are. Our entourage will continue to accompany us, but we must be close to our people,” she said.
The Women’s Secretariat, part of the Sheinbaum administration, condemned the incident on Tuesday, saying public access “cannot be used as an excuse to invade someone’s personal space or make physical contact without their consent.”
“Unfortunately, no woman in our country is exempt from sexual harassment,” the ministry said. “It is vitally important for men to understand that these acts are not only violent, but criminal.”
The office urged victims to report incidents rather than ignore them. “These forms of violence must not be trivialized. Condemning violence is fundamental to justice and cultural change,” the magazine writes.
The incident involving Mexico’s head of state highlights broader issues for women in public life. The National Electoral Institute (INE) recorded 516 cases of violence against women in political positions from September 2020 to July 2025.
Mexico City’s mayor echoed Sheinbaum’s own campaign message about female representation, saying the incident showed why “being the first female president is not just a symbol, but a call to confront misogyny head on.”
Tuesday’s events are indicative of a deep national problem. According to the 2021 National Survey of Mexico’s National Institute of Statistics and Geography (INEGI), 70.1% of Mexican women over the age of 15 have experienced at least one type of violence, of which 49.1% reported sexual violence.
Sheinbaum said Wednesday that he will work with the Women’s Secretariat to consider whether harassment should be criminalized in all Mexican states and launch a national campaign against harassment.
“We have to respect women in every sense of the word,” she said. “Harassment is a crime, and it’s time for everyone in this country to understand that.”
