From the Halls of Montezuma to the Shores of …?

Valentina Gomez is a Colombian born US far far right political activist.

Even by the standards of far right political activism Gomez’s right wing extremism is something to behold.

Gomez attended ‘Tommy Robinson’s’ ‘Unite the Kingdom’ rally in London last year stating:

England, they took your guns, they took your swords, and they raped your women. You have nothing else to lose, but there’s still hope. You are still the majority. So you either fight for this nation or you let all of these rapist Muslims and corrupt politicians take over 

And telling police officers:

I need you to stop following orders because you know you are being told to look the other way while your country is being raped into submission 

and had planned to do the same next month. 

She had initially been given permission to enter the UK via a UK electronic travel authorisation but this has subsequently withdrawn, allegedly after the intervention of UK Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood who allegedly stated that Gomez’s presence in the UK ‘would not be conducive to the public good’ 

Gomez has now threatened to enter the UK illegally claiming she will arrive in the UK by small boat: 

If they dare to arrest me, I guarantee you that the White House will get involved [because] I am coming with former and current soldiers of the US Military 

(The comments on the tweet are also interesting) 

This throws up a number of interesting scenarios, where is Gomez going to enter from? France is the obvious choice but wherever she’s going to come from  she’d need to enter from a western continental European shore or from Ireland, which of course means she has to first get into the country where she plans to launch the boat from. How does she do that legally? 

The other issue is those with her. What sanctions will US citizens and serving US military face for entering a country illegally, (somewhat of a reversal from the boul Tommy entering the US illegally), both in the UK and in the US? How will the White House react to such a scenario?

It could well of course be a bluff publicity stunt but if it does go ahead how should UK authorities react to such an obviously disruptive extremist entering the country illegally? 

Hughie Beag

Hughie Beag is a West Belfast native and recovering legal scholar who spends lots of time in his spouse’s native Basque Country