Katie Hopkins congratulates Homeland Security staff who stopped British Muslim family's Disneyland holiday

The commentator claimed Walthamstow was a 'hotbed of extremism' and called Stella Creasy a 'maniac' in her latest article

Katie Hopkins has called Walthamstow “a known hotbed of extremism” while dubbing the British family prevented from going on holiday to Disneyland by the US government a “mafia”.

Mohammad Tariq Mahmood was travelling from Gatwick airport to the California theme park with his brother and their nine children when they were stopped from boarding a Norwegian Air flight on 15 December.

Security officials told the family from Walthamstow, north-east London, Homeland Security had found a problem with their entry visas for the US and their authorisation had been cancelled.

Mr Mahmood said there was “a lot of frustration and anger” and that the children were “devastated”, adding “we did not know what to tell our kids”.

In an article for the Mail Online, Hopkins wrote that she did not blame the US for stopping them, claiming she would not let the family visit Disneyland herself.

After initially criticising the fact that the children’s mothers were not part of the group, she wrote: “If I had been playing my usual game of ‘spot the terrorist’ at the airport, (beard -5 points, rucksack – 10 points, sandals – 5 points – be honest, you’ve all done it) I’d have been feeling a little anxious.”

The inflammatory commentator claimed Waltham Forest, the London borough where the Mahmoods live, was a “known hotbed of extremism”, citing one hate preacher who lived there.

Hopkins made allegations about alleged extremist material traced to the family’s address before saying she was “not buying your (Mr Mahmood’s) story” about going to Disneyland, adding: “I find it utterly improbable two men with the entire Mahmood clan were travelling without the company of a wife or mother to such a family-orientated destination.”

The father has dismissed any suggestion his family had links to a Facebook page which talked about a connection with al-Qaeda.

“We are a normal family. We pay our taxes. We are normal people,” he said.

Stella Creasy, the Labour MP for Walthamstow, has written to Prime Minister David Cameron about the family’s treatment but Hopkins dismissed her as a “whinging…blond-bobbed maniac”.

Comparing herself to Nicholas Brody, the fictional US soldier played by Damian Lewis in Homeland, she praised America for “protecting its own people”, adding: “I congratulate the USA Homeland Security Force for a job well done.”