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Following New Times‘ reporting about Florida International University’s probe into a racist and antisemitic group chat reportedly created and named by Miami-Dade County GOP secretary Abel Alexander Carvajal, the Republican Party of Miami-Dade County has voted to request the 23-year-old’s resignation and remove him from his role.
In a statement posted to X (the platform formerly known as Twitter), around 11 a.m. on Thursday, Kevin J. Cooper, Chairman of the Miami-Dade Republican Party, wrote:
“We condemn in the strongest possible terms Abel Alexander Carvajal’s racist group chat. His words and actions are reprehensible and are completely inconsistent with the values of the Republican Party of Miami-Dade County. The words and actions of this indvidual does [sic] not speak for our Party.”
The group chat, which apparently includes Ian Valdes, president of FIU’s chapter of the conservative group TPUSA, Dariel Gonzalez, a former board member of FIU’s College Republicans, and others, contains an abundance of inflammatory and racist language.
“Participants used variations of the n-word more than 400 times, regularly described women as ‘whores,’ used slurs to talk about Jewish and gay people and mused about Hitler’s politics,” according to reporting by Claire Heddles of the Miami Herald.
In one message, Gonzalez allegedly wrote, “Total Negro Death!” In another, while discussing a Black student who reportedly left FIU’s College Republicans after being targeted with racial slurs, he wrote that a fellow member “called her a n*gger so she left.”
The chat also included a message in which a participant allegedly enumerated dozens of violent methods of killing Black people — including crucifixion, dissection, and beheading — according to the Floridian, which first reported on the messages on Wednesday.
In a separate exchange about Jewish people, where participants used an antisemitic slur, spelled “kyke,” Valdes allegedly wrote, “I would def not marry a Jew lmao.”
The Herald also reported that Valdes wrote, “We need to have a moratorium on immigration temporarily unless it’s someone from a first world country,” later adding, “Yeah I obviously mean whites.”
A handful of GOP politicians, including Republican State Rep. Juan Porras, who also serves as a Miami-Dade GOP state committeeman, and Florida Republican state Senators Alexis Calatayud, Ileana Garcia, and Ana Maria Rodriguez, also denounced the language, calling for Carvajal’s resignation.
Screenshot via Alexis Calatayud/Facebook
“We are the party that fought to end slavery, the party that welcomed Cuban refugees fleeing communism to freedom in Miami, and the party that continues to welcome Americans of every race, faith, gender, and nationality who believe in liberty and opportunity,” the Miami-Dade Republican Party statement reads.
“The majority of our Party’s Board voted to request Carvajal’s resignation,” the post continues. “We have commenced removal proceedings and look forward to resolution from the Republican Party of Florida.”
Carvajal’s Instagram bio, which has since been changed, innocuously described him as “just your friendly neighborhood law student and hockey fan.” He confirmed to the Floridian on Wednesday that the group chat in question was his, but denied any knowledge of the incendiary comments.
Neither Cooper nor the Miami-Dade Republican Party returned New Times‘ requests for comment via phone, text message, or Instagram by the time of this reporting.
FIU spokesperson Madeline Baró told New Times in an email Wednesday evening that the university is investigating the matter involving its students.
This is a breaking story and will be updated as events warrant.
