![\"View](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/MIA_205FIUBridge00NEWPPP.JPG\" "\\"View")
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View of the Florida International University main entrance on SW 8th Street at the Modesto Maidique Campus in Miami, on Wednesday March 15, 2023.<\/p>\n
Pedro Portal<\/p>\n
pportal@miamiherald.com<\/p>\n
Florida International University\u2019s Turning Point USA chapter President Ian Valdes has stepped down from leadership, the school\u2019s club announced on social media, after reporting revealed his involvement in a racist group chat among Miami campus conservatives.<\/p>\n
The group chat, which has been widely condemned, included Valdes, the secretary of the Miami-Dade GOP and the former College Republicans recruitment chair.<\/p>\n
Throughout the two and a half weeks of chat logs between September and October obtained by the Miami Herald<\/a> \u2014 and verified by two people in the group \u2014 participants used variations of the n-word more than 400 times, regularly described women as \u201cwhores,\u201d used slurs to talk about Jewish and gay people and mused about Hitler\u2019s politics.<\/p>\n Read more: \u2018Nazi heaven\u2019: Inside Miami campus Republicans\u2019 racist group chat<\/a><\/p>\n \u201cThe Turning Point USA chapter at Florida International University has been made aware of the recent incident involving chapter leadership. The chapter president has stepped down from leadership, turned over social media, and we are currently reconstituting our leadership team,\u201d the organization posted on Instagram Saturday.<\/p>\n \u201cOur chapter remains focused on fostering constructive conversation, supporting our members, and continuing our mission of engaging students in meaningful discussions,\u201d the statement read.<\/p>\n Valdes did not respond to multiple requests for comment.<\/p>\n This isn\u2019t the first time FIU\u2019s Turning Point USA chapter has come under scrutiny over its members\u2019 comments in private chats. Group chat logs obtained by the Miami New Times in 2018<\/a> showed TPUSA chapter members joking about rape. Faculty and students sought to have the club shut down at the time, but it has remained active on campus.<\/p>\n An FIU spokesperson told the Herald the university is reviewing the chat. FIU police have an open investigation.<\/p>\n Miami-Dade GOP secretary refusing to step down<\/p>\n Valdes\u2019 resignation from his leadership role comes in contrast to Miami-Dade GOP Secretary Abel Carvajal \u2014 the creator of the chat \u2014 who is refusing to resign from his position of leadership.<\/p>\n According to Miami-Dade County GOP Chair Kevin Cooper, the majority of the party\u2019s board voted to request Carvajal\u2019s resignation last week.<\/p>\n \u201cWe condemn in the strongest possible terms Abel Alexander Carvajal\u2019s racist group chat,\u201d a statement from Cooper<\/a> said. \u201cHis words and actions are reprehensible.\u201d Leaders from across the party also publicly called for his resignation on social media after the chat logs were reported.<\/p>\n But Carvajal said he has no plans of resigning and insists he\u2019s actually getting support from within the party.<\/p>\n \u201cNo action has been taken to remove me from board. If you have been told otherwise, that is a blatant falsehood,\u201d he told the Herald Saturday. \u201cI have received the support of countless members of Miami-Dade [Republican Executive Committee] \u2014 who have known me for several years and know who I truly am.\u201d<\/p>\n He did not respond to additional questions. He has previously said he did not see the extent to which participants were posting extremist and racist content.<\/p>\n Group chat logs obtained by the Herald show that Carvajal didn\u2019t explicitly use the n-word like others in the chat. He did, however, use words that appeared similar to racist slurs \u2014 including variations of slurs referring to Black women and children \u2014 but with the \u201cn\u201d replaced with an \u201cm\u201d at the beginning of the words.<\/p>\n Read more: Will participants in racist Miami Republican group chat face consequences?<\/a><\/p>\n Former Miami-Dade County GOP chair and state Rep. Alex Rizo told the Herald he\u2019s expecting the party to hold a full party meeting and vote on Carvajal\u2019s position by next week. He said he had not heard from anyone in the party that supports Carvajal remaining in the role.<\/p>\n \u201cIf these comments are being said or written and you\u2019re not removing yourself from that situation, that\u2019s one problem in and of itself,\u201d said Rizo, who\u2019s also calling for Carvajal\u2019s resignation.<\/p>\n Former recruitment chair denounced in Coral Gables<\/p>\n Dariel Gonzalez, who was FIU\u2019s College Republicans\u2019 recruitment chairman at the time the group chat was created, was removed from a volunteer position in Coral Gables and is no longer an intern at a local architecture firm. He had stepped down from his role with the College Republicans before the content of the chat logs became public.<\/p>\n Gonzalez had some involvement in the Coral Gables community and political scene. Last spring, when the city was in the midst of a heated election cycle<\/a>, Gonzalez posed for campaign group photos with Mayor Vince Lago and Commissioner Richard Lara.<\/p>\n Lago said in a statement that Gonzalez was not affiliated with his campaign.<\/p>\n \u201cIt is important to clarify that Dariel Gonzalez, like dozens of other individuals, attended various public events during the last City of Coral Gables elections,\u201d Lago said. \u201cHowever, he was not a campaign worker, staff member, or representative of the campaign. Any suggestion otherwise is incorrect.\u201d<\/p>\n Lago also said the group chat messages are \u201creprehensible and deserve unequivocal condemnation. Racism, antisemitism, and threats of violence have no place in our community or in our political discourse.\u201d<\/p>\n Lara did not respond to an emailed request for comment, but told the Miami New Times<\/a> that Gonzalez was not a part of his campaign. He called the messages \u201cabhorrent.\u201d<\/p>\n Gonzalez worked as a research assistant at R.J. Heisenbottle Architects, and he recently volunteered at the city-operated Merrick House. He no longer holds either of these positions. \u201cThe conduct referenced in recent news coverage involves an intern who is no longer affiliated with our firm and whose actions are not connected to our work, our clients, or our practice,\u201d Controller Charlie Law said in an emailed statement.<\/p>\n Law added that the architecture firm \u201cunequivocally condemn[s] antisemitism, racism, and any language or conduct that promotes hate, violence, or discrimination.\u201d<\/p>\n City spokeswoman Martha Pantin said Gonzalez\u2019s only affiliation with the city was in his volunteer role at Merrick House.<\/p>\n \u201cEffective immediately upon learning of these posts, he was removed from that role and is no longer affiliated with the Merrick House in any capacity,\u201d Pantin said. She described the language in the group chat as \u201cheinous\u201d and said it \u201chas no place in our community.\u201d<\/p>\n
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