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A majority of the Miami-Dade Republican Party’s executive board has voted to request the resignation of the party’s secretary over a racist group chat, according to the party’s chairman, but they may need the state party’s buy-in to actually oust him.
The ambiguity about Secretary Abel Carvajal’s future in the party comes amid outcry over a group chat he created after Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk’s killing. Within three weeks it was filled with racist slurs, someone wrote dozens of ways of violently killing Black people and the chat was renamed after what one member described as “Nazi heaven.”
If Carvajal doesn’t voluntarily resign from his role in the county party, state party officials would have to step in to formally remove him. But Republican Party of Florida Chairman Evan Power didn’t commit Thursday to forcing out the embattled party leader.
“RPOF is undergoing an internal review of this situation and as such will not comment further at this,” the party said in a statement that also denounced the “repugnant comments made by a few individuals in a group chat.”
Read more: ‘Nazi heaven’: Inside Miami campus Republicans’ racist group chat
Calls for Carvajal’s removal also resounded from elsewhere in the party Thursday.
“Anyone involved in this behavior must resign immediately from any leadership role within the Miami-Dade Republican Party,” Congresswoman María Elvira Salazar wrote in a statement. “Leadership requires integrity. Racism disqualifies you.”
Miami-Dade Republican state senators Ileana Garcia, Alexis Calatayud and Ana Maria Rodriguez issued a joint statement calling on Carvajal to step down. U.S. Senator Rick Scott wrote on social media, “This is disgusting and cannot be tolerated.”
“We will not tolerate bigotry or discrimination,” State Rep. Juan Carlos Porras said. “Republicans hold ourselves accountable. When someone in our ranks crosses the line, we address it directly.”
Carvajal didn’t respond to a text message seeking comment.
During an hour-long interview with the Miami Herald last week, he said he had not seen the most violent, racist content posted in the chat — including a message listing ways of violently killing Black people, who the poster, William Bejerano, referred to using the n-word.
Carvajal said he created the chat, but only participated occasionally, which chat logs obtained by the Herald confirm.
“I should have done a better job of monitoring what people were putting in there. Or frankly, I should have left it the moment I had heard or seen,” Carvajal said. “But genuinely, genuinely, genuinely I didn’t know the extent of which this stuff was going on.”
Other campus Republican leaders were among the participants who posted the most extreme content in the group chat. Then-Republican recruitment Chairman Dariel Gonzalez told the group he refused to be “indoctrinated” by Black professors.
In the group chat — verified by two people in the group — 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.
At one point, Turning Point USA chapter President Ian Valdes renamed the group after a mythical white supremacist civilization promoted by Nazis called Agartha.
The logs show Carvajal changed the settings of the chat immediately after that happened so that only administrators could name the chat. But he changed the settings back so anyone could alter the group name immediately afterward. “Have fun moggs,” he wrote, according to the group chat logs.
Carvajal told the Herald last week he didn’t know the meaning of Agartha.
Florida International University has not confirmed the status of the other students involved in the chat, including Valdes and Gonzalez, citing an ongoing criminal investigation.
“FIU does not and will not tolerate violence, hate, discrimination, harassment, racism or antisemitism. This is not who we are. This is not what FIU stands for,” college President Jeanette Nuñez said Thursday. “The alleged conduct continues to be investigated by FIU Police Department in coordination with local, state, and federal law enforcement. In addition, the FIU Office of Civil Rights and the Office of Student Conduct and Academic Integrity are actively investigating the matter.”
College Republicans at FIU unanimously voted to remove all the members of the chat from their ranks.
“The members who were involved in this matter have been suspended from the organization pending permanent removal. Let us be absolutely clear that this was not a College Republicans chat,” the organization wrote in a statement. “These are not conservative values, and this is in no way a reflection of the conservative community at FIU.”
Resigned from Hialeah role
As his future in the party remained unclear, Carvajal did resign from his role in Hialeah’s city government Thursday.
Carvajal was appointed to Hialeah’s Planning and Zoning Board on Feb. 2 to serve a two-year term, after Councilwoman Melinda De La Vega nominated him for the position in January. A well-known young political figure in Hialeah, Carvajal canvassed in support of De La Vega’s campaign ahead of the November elections, as well as Councilwoman Gelien Perez and the mayoral campaign of Jesus Tundidor.
Hialeah Mayor Bryan Calvo told the Herald that neither he nor De La Vega were aware of the group chat when Carvajal was appointed to the planning board.
Calvo added: “Let me be clear: We strongly condemn antisemitism, racism, and any form of hatred or discrimination,” Calvo said in a statement to the Herald. “Those views have no place in our city or in public service.”
Calvo said that Carvajal will be resigning from the board effective immediately.
De La Vega said that Hialeah is a vibrant and diverse city made up of many cultures, races and religions. “It is important that we continue to respect one another and uphold the values that bring our community together.”
She added that it was “disheartening” to see what occurred. “I want to make clear that I do not support or condone any form of racism or hatred in our city, especially from individuals who have the responsibility of helping represent our city and helping make decisions for our community.”
This story was originally published March 5, 2026 at 3:06 PM.
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Miami Herald
Claire Heddles is the Miami Herald’s senior political correspondent. She previously covered national politics and Congress from Washington, D.C at NOTUS. She’s also worked as a public radio reporter covering local government and education in East Tennessee and Jacksonville, Florida.
el Nuevo Herald
Verónica Egui Brito ha profundizado en temas sociales apremiantes y de derechos humanos. Cubre noticias dentro de la vibrante ciudad de Hialeah y sus alrededores para el Nuevo Herald y el Miami Herald. Se unió al Herald en 2022. Verónica Egui Brito has delved into pressing social, and human rights issues. She covers news within the vibrant city of Hialeah, and its surrounding areas for el Nuevo Herald, and the Miami Herald. Joined the Herald in 2022.