sent shockwaves throughout the community<\/a>.<\/p>\nAccording to the Herald, one of the texts \u201cused 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 [Adolf] Hitler\u2019s politics.\u201d<\/p>\n
After a second day of arguments, Sabatini told 7News the statements in the group chat were made in jest.<\/p>\n
\u201cKids make jokes. Sometimes they make very off-color jokes, but they\u2019re not threats,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
One of the four students in the legal battle, Abel Carvajal, who started the group chat, said he\u2019s confident that the students will prevail in this case.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re very confident in the evidence and the testimony we\u2019ve heard in the last day and a half. We think that we will prevail in this lawsuit,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
When the chat was made public, Carvajal was the secretary of the Miami-Dade County Republican Party. He has since resigned.<\/p>\n
A federal judge will determine if FIU had the legal authority to discipline the students for messages exchanged in a private chat, or whether the sanctions crossed the constitutional limits on a public university\u2019s power to regulate expression.<\/p>\n
Sabatini claims political opponents leaked the chat and the Herald article created a bipartisan uproar the university couldn\u2019t ignore.<\/p>\n
\u201cAfter that, everybody was in a tizzy. FIU cowardly went back, walked back their original decision to leave the kids alone, let them live their private lives and charge them under the Student Code of Conduct, which is a violation of the United States Constitution.\u201d<\/p>\n
FIU attorneys did not speak to the media after Thursday\u2019s proceedings.<\/p>\n
The judge ordered both sides to return in mid-December for closing arguments.<\/p>\n
Copyright 2026 Sunbeam Television Corp. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.<\/p>\n
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