British authorities have approved a UK Electronic Travel Authorisation (ETA) for infamous US-based Quran desecrator and MAGA influencer Valentina Gomez, raising alarm over her plans to incite against Muslims from a London stage in May.
Gomez is scheduled to appear as a speaker at Tommy Robinson’s “Unite the Kingdom” rally on 16 May in central London.
In a post on X, Gomez said: “VISA APPROVED. See you on 16 May in England. Keir Starmer, Shabana Mahmood and the UK Home Office, you’re only good at protecting Muslim rape gangs. Try to arrest me and see what happens. England belongs to the English. Not the Mohameds.”
Despite Gomez’s claim, an ETA is not a visa. It is a digital permit for visa-exempt travellers, allowing them to visit the UK for tourism, study, or family visits for up to six months. ETAs are for “non-visa nationals”, cost £20, are valid for two years, and allow multiple visits.
Securing an ETA does not guarantee entry to the UK, and an unwanted traveller could still be stopped upon arrival and sent back to their country of origin.
On 10 April, 5Pillars began reporting on Ms Gomez’s plan to enter the UK with the intention of inciting against Muslims and Islam after she declared her travel plans to 5Pillars editor Roshan Salih on X.
A rising number of prominent voices have joined 5Pillars in questioning why a known Islamophobe like Gomez is still permitted to visit the UK.
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A growing number of accounts on X have started lobbying the Home Office and Secretary of State Shabana Mahmood to take action to prevent her entry to the UK, where she will likely peddle more anti-Muslim views on stage.
Anti-racism activist Muktar Yassin said on X: “They need to keep the same energy for this unhinged bigot as they did for Kanye West.”
Journalist Ika Ferrer Gotić added: “If Kanye can’t, she shouldn’t be able to either. We’ll see how the UK Government handles this one.”
Elsewhere, broadcaster and public speaker Narinder Kaur said: “You (Gomez) will be banned. We don’t let arse wipes into the country.”
Another broadcaster and financial analyst, Albie Amankona, said: “If Kanye West has had his visa revoked, then this apparent racist, who does not appear to have any disability or issued any apology, should have her visa revoked too. And everyone who called for Kanye to be banned from the UK should be calling for Valentina to be banned too.”
So far, the Home Office has not commented on the case. 5Pillars has reached out to them for comment, including for clarification on her approved ETA, and will update the article if they decide to respond.
History of hate
Gomez has a long history of inciting hate towards Muslims in America and Europe.
In September 2025, at the Unite the Kingdom rally, Gomez urged for the mass expulsion of Muslims from the UK and branded Prime Minister Keir Starmer “the biggest paedophile protector in history.”
“England belongs to the English. It’s either now or never, because if these rapists Muslims take over, they will not only rape your women, they will behead your sons, just like they did on October 7th in Israel,” she told the cheering crowd.
“So, we either fight now or we die. And we’re fighters, we are warriors of Jesus Christ. And in the words of the great Charlie Kirk, Islam is the sword that the left is using to destroy Christian nations and to destroy every Christian nation across the world. So, do not make peace with evil. Destroy it. And we need a new prime minister that has guts and that’s gonna stand up for the British and send all of these rapists Muslims and dirty rugs back to their Sharia nations.”
In December 2024, she released a campaign video showing the mock execution of a hooded immigrant effigy while calling for “public executions” of undocumented migrants. Social media platforms restricted the footage for violent content.
In August 2025, Gomez sparked widespread condemnation in America after posting a video of herself burning a copy of the Quran with a flamethrower.
She routinely smears Muslims collectively of being “rapists”, “pedophiles” and “terrorists” online and at various events she attends.
In a recent X post published in March 2026, Gomez verbally abused the UK’s Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood as a “dirty” Muslim.
“No nation has ever benefitted from bringing in in dirty Muslims like you (Shabana). You came to a Christian country and took and oath on the Quran.”
Home Office appeasing far-right?
Amid growing concern over the possible arrival of Gomez and other far-right hate preachers in May, anger has also been expressed by activists over the date and route of the Unite the Kingdom rally.
Annie Lennox and Miriam Margolyes are among famous artists who have accused the Metropolitan police of giving preferential treatment to the far-right demonstration led by Tommy Robinson over an annual pro-Palestine protest planned on the same day.
The pro-Palestine movement has had its preferred route through central London for its commemoration of the Nakba – the mass force expulsion of Palestinians – rejected by the Met, while the Robinson hate rally will take place on the same date in Kingsway, the Strand, Trafalgar Square, Whitehall and Parliament Square. Robinson, whose real name is Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, posted on X: “London is ours on May 16th.”
An open letter saying that the Met “must not favour the far right over Palestine” has also been signed by the actors Samuel West and Khalid Abdalla, the musicians Billy Bragg and Nadine Shah, as well as MPs, academics, lawyers, trade union and civil society leaders.
The Met said the decision was based on the relative scale of the demonstrations.
The letter says that the pro-Palestine movement informed the force on 18 December of its intention to march on the nearest Saturday to Nakba Day, in keeping with a tradition dating back more than a decade, but that the Met has “instead given over the political centre of London to a hate march called by racist thug ‘Tommy Robinson’”.
It calls on the force to “immediately reverse this shameful decision.”
Robinson’s rallies have a history of widespread anti-social behaviour and descending into violent clashes, as his supporters engage in thuggish conduct, usually later in the day after consuming alcohol.
In September, 5Pillars witnessed violence at Trafalgar Square when supporters of Robinson moved away from their designated area of Whitehall and invaded a space originally designated for an anti-racism counter-protest on the same day.
According to the Met, the size of the crowd was unexpected, surpassing 100,000 participants.
The huge turnout meant attendees could not be contained within Whitehall, the endpoint of the march where the rally was being held. The swelling numbers resulted in clashes with police, with the Met stating that officers “faced unacceptable violence” after being “assaulted with kicks and punches. Bottles, flares and other projectiles were thrown.”
Despite the risk of further incitement by speakers, widespread concerns among British Muslims, and the possibility of renewed scenes of violence, the authorities have opted to facilitate the march of the far right.
