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FIFA World Cup fans crowd around a Bank of America tent at Fan Fest in EaDo in hopes of getting their own viral Houston-themed charm bracelet on July 4, 2026.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Ashley Soebroto\/Houston Chronicle<\/p>\n
As Houston police worked overtime to help pull off Houston\u2019s $114 million security plan for the\u00a0FIFA World Cup, department brass were busy feting an anonymous influencer with a barbecue lunch and a police escort to an Astros game<\/a>.<\/p>\n The anonymous German X.com account \u201cFreddy\u201d invited some 440,000 users to follow along as he shared pictures of he and his friends eating barbecue with Chief Noe Diaz<\/a> and his top staff at HPD Headquarters then leaving with trinkets, including HPD challenge coins and other branded merchandise<\/a>.<\/p>\n READ MORE: New report reveals how often Houston police turned people over to ICE<\/a><\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n \u201cOur most American experience so far,\u201d Freddy tweeted on June 15. \u201cWe met with the Houston Police Department and ate typical Texan BBQ together. It looked in there just like in the movies.\u201d<\/p>\n Our most American experience so far\ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\uddf8 <\/p>\n We met with the Houston Police department and ate typical Texan BBQ together. It looked in there just like in the movies. They even put on Ella Langley just for us.\ud83d\ude02 pic.twitter.com\/zN5r2gTlqL<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Freddy\ud83c\udde9\ud83c\uddea (@FreddyLA7) June 15, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n Freddy\u2019s upbeat posts documenting his travels in America caught fire during the World Cup, netting him a NASA tour, a meeting with musician Ella\u00a0Langley<\/a> and posh hotel stays at Houston\u2019s Post Oak Hotel, courtesy of Texans legend J.J. Watt<\/a>. Officials with President Donald Trump\u2019s administration also say<\/a> Freddy is set to visit the White House at some point. His followers now top 762,000.<\/p>\n But it\u2019s not clear why Diaz and his staff set aside time to meet with the overnight celebrity.\u00a0HPD did not respond to questions about the visit or police escort. In response to a records request for the department\u2019s spending on Freddy\u2019s visit, officials said they had no responsive information.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n The man behind the Freddy account also did not respond to a request for comment.<\/p>\n READ MORE: What are Houston’s goals for hosting the\u00a0World Cup?\u00a0<\/a><\/p>\n Local tourism boards and municipalities have sought to court foreign influencers in recent years, especially during the World Cup, said\u00a0Louisa Shu Ying Ha, a professor at Bowling Green State University and creator of the Global Social Media Influencer Research Lab.<\/p>\n The idea, she said, is to improve international opinions of the city and potentially boost tourism.<\/p>\n \u201cBut it\u2019s unusual that the police department, not the city or tourism board, is the one that initiates the conversation with an influencer,\u201d\u00a0Shu Ying Ha said. \u201cI cannot comment or speculate why the Houston police department needs him to promote the department or safety in Houston.\u201d<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n ‘Thought he\u2019d be fun to meet’<\/p>\n In a series of private\u00a0X.com messages between Houston police officials and Freddy released in response to an open records request, HPD staff initiated contact with the influencer June 11. He did not immediately respond, and police officials sent the same message to him three times over two days before he wrote back.<\/p>\n \u201cWe would love to have you join some Houston police officers for the best BBQ Houston has to offer during your upcoming visit and show you a few of the areas that makes(sic) Houston a remarkable, diverse city,\u201d an\u00a0HPD communications aide wrote.<\/p>\n Freddy responded that he had a tight schedule and might have to leave out lunch to make a visit work, to which\u00a0HPD staff said \u201cthe chief of the Houston Police Department and the mayor of Houston would love to meet up with you and welcome you to Houston!\u201d<\/p>\n Department leaders then offered to accommodate whatever his schedule allowed, and offered a police escort to his next event.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n \u201cTomorrow could work for us,\u201d Freddy responded. \u201cJust very important to us to stay anonymous.\u201d<\/p>\n Freddy ultimately met department leaders June 15, the day after Germany played a match at\u00a0NRG Stadium, then attended an Astros game, during which he posted<\/a>, \u201clol we just randomly met the mayor of Houston at the baseball game.\u201d<\/p>\n Lol we just randomly met the mayor of Houston at the baseball game\ud83d\ude2d\ud83d\ude2d\ud83d\ude2d<\/p>\n