A South Florida university has launched an investigation into a group chat started by an official with the Miami-Dade chapter of the Republican Party that included violently racist slurs, antisemitic comments and misogynistic language.<\/p>\n
The chat, which the state GOP denounced<\/a>, involved students and several top conservative leaders at Florida International University, according to our news partners at the Miami Herald, which viewed and independently verified the conversations.<\/a><\/p>\n The university said in a statement on Thursday that the conduct of the students was being investigated by the campus police in coordination with local, state, and federal law enforcement.<\/p>\n “FIU does not and will not tolerate violence, hate, discrimination, harassment, racism or antisemitism,” said FIU President Jeanette Nunez, a former Florida lieutenant governor and GOP state lawmaker. “This is not who we are. This is not what FIU stands for.”<\/p>\n The Republican Party of Florida said in a statement that it was undertaking “an internal review of this situation”. It condemned “the repugnant comments,” saying that they were “completely contrary” to what the organization represents.<\/p>\n Last fall, New York’s Republican State Committee suspended a Young Republican organization following the release of a group chat that included jokes about rape and flippant commentary on gas chambers.<\/p>\n An official with the Republican Jewish Coalition on Friday said that it echoed the condemnation of the chat by Florida GOP officials.<\/p>\n “Antisemitism and bigotry have no place in the Republican Party,” said Sam Markstein, a spokesman for the Jewish GOP group.<\/p>\n