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

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

The clip quickly went viral and hours later the platform restricted it because of its violent content. “Blocking my videos and suspending my account 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.

Medellín-born Gomez began gaining attention in May of this year during the Republican Party primary for Missouri secretary of state. Her videos targeting lesbian players on the women’s national basketball team such as Brittney Griner, as well as her criticism of literature with 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,” Gomez says in one of her most viral videos. Her provocative rhetoric failed to resonate with voters and Gomez placed sixth in the August 6 primary, receiving 48,000 votes (7.5%).

In this context, her latest video seems less like a statement of intent and more like an open attack. On December 18, Gomez officially launched her campaign to become a Texas congresswoman in 2026. “I don’t give a fuck what all these bureaucrats in Washington, DC think about me. I’m coming to Texas to tell the truth, cook the crooks and save the children,” she says in her first campaign message, using language reminiscent of other extremists entering the public eye. Gomez publicly refers to Trump ally and far-right activist Laura Loomer, known for her conspiracy theories, as her personal friend.

Hate speech against immigrants

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

“A migrant who, in this case, arms herself with a gun, fires it in a video and posts it like it was 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 comments also came from Colombia. President Gustavo Petro condemned the congressional candidate from Medellín, sharing the video and questioning her stance. “She’s not just a fascist American; she is Colombian. And as a migrant, she wants to stir up hatred against migrants,” he said, adding: “Most Americans are murdered by Americans.”

Since the start of Donald Trump’s campaign, immigrants have been portrayed as criminals, despite official figures showing the opposite. After his election victory, the president-elect claimed that there were 13,000 undocumented murderers on the loose in the country, but the reality is different. Undocumented migrants commit fewer crimes than legal migrants or native-born citizens. Almost 90% of illegal 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 an increase in crime – in fact, crime rates fell last year.

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