Summary
Texas Republican Valentina Gomez sparked outrage after releasing a video proposing public executions of undocumented immigrants who commit violent crimes, claiming it would act as a deterrent.
The video, shared on X, simulated Gomez shooting a hooded dummy representing an undocumented migrant.
Her comments followed the arrest of a Guatemalan immigrant for a subway murder in New York.
Known for far-right provocations, Gomez’s remarks drew sharp criticism from political figures and activists, with some praising her stance while others condemned it as hateful and extreme.
One thing the rise of the Internet has led to is people’s desire not for information about the world around them, but for echo chambers that just repeat what they want to hear. For others, finding that echo chamber isn’t enough. They need to be in the center of that chamber causing the echo. Eyes and ears on them, always. And for these people, no level of extreme is too much so long as it results on the attention being focused on them. Not only do they want to find the echo chamber, they want to control the echo chamber to ensure that it will always continue to just tell them what they want to hear.
Profit and consolidation of power are secondary motives, but that is the primary. And the reason that it’s the primary is that they know that if they’re successful, the profit and consolidation of power are soon to follow anyway.