Executing a migrant on social media: A young Colombian woman’s plan to make her way in US politics

Her name is Valentina Gomez, and she is just 25 years old. A Colombian-American, Gomez is a member of the MAGA movement and is running for a seat in Congress in 2026. Until this week, not many people knew her. That changed on Christmas Eve, when she posted a video on social media platform X in which she appears, gun in hand, simulating the execution of a migrant. “Public executions for any illegal that rapes or kills an American,” she says in the video.

The clip quickly went viral, and hours later, the platform restricted it for its violent content. “My video being restricted and my account getting suspended shows all of you that I am the biggest threat to the establishment because I call it like I see it, I give people hope, and I don’t need their money,” Gomez said in response to the measure, even though her account is now active again.

Born in Medellín, Gomez began to gain attention in May of this year during the Republican Party primaries for the position of Missouri Secretary of State. Her videos targeting lesbian players on the national women’s basketball team, such as Brittney Griner, as well as her criticism of literature featuring queer themes or characters, earned her ridicule in the local press. “In America, you can be anything you want. So don’t be weak and gay,” says Gomez in one of her most viral videos. Her provocative rhetoric didn’t resonate with voters, and Gomez placed sixth in the primaries held on August 6, receiving 48,000 votes (7.5%).

In this context, her latest video seems less like a declaration of intent and more like an outright attack. On December 18, Gomez formally launched her campaign to become a congresswoman for Texas in 2026. “I don’t give a fuck what all those bureaucrats in Washington, D.C. think of me. I’m coming to Texas to speak the truth, cook the crooks, and save the children,” she says in her first campaign message, using language that echoes that of other extremists entering the public arena. Gomez publicly calls Trump ally and far-right activist Laura Loomer, who is known famous for her conspiracy theories, her personal friend.

Hate speech against immigrants

The statements made by Gomez — who is a graduate of Central Connecticut State University and has an MBA from the Tulane Freeman School of Business — have raised alarm among human rights organizations, particularly given the increasingly troubling anti-immigrant sentiment sweeping the nation. The video, in which she calls for the execution of immigrants who have committed serious crimes, has been reposted 10,000 times, and received 6,000 comments (many in support) and 64,000 likes.

“A migrant, who in this case arms herself with a gun, fires it in a video, and posts it as if it were the funniest thing in the world... This is extremely dangerous, and we cannot tolerate it,” said Juan José Gutiérrez of the Coalition for Full Rights for Immigrants in an interview with Telemundo.

Reactions to Gomez’s statements also came from Colombia. President Gustavo Petro condemned the congressional candidate from Medellín and shared the video, questioning her stance. “She is not just a fascist American; she is Colombian. And as a migrant, what she wants is to stir up hatred against migrants,” he said, adding, “Most Americans are murdered by Americans.”

Since the start of Donald Trump’s election campaign, immigrants have been depicted as criminals, despite official figures showing otherwise. After winning the election, the president-elect claimed that 13,000 undocumented murderers were on the loose in the country, but the reality tells a different story. Undocumented migrants commit fewer crimes than those with legal status or native-born citizens. Nearly 90% of undocumented migrants (between 11 and 13 million people) have no criminal record, and the increase in immigration during the last administration (around two million people) did not lead to a rise in crime — in fact, crime rates fell in the past year.

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