4 OctOber 2-8, 2025 miaminewtimes.com | browardpalmbeach.com NEW TIMES | MUSIC | CAFE | CULTURE | NIGHT+DAY | NEWS | LETTERS | CONTENTS | MONTH XX–MONTH XX, 2008 miaminewtimes.com MIAMI NEW TIMES | MUSIC | CAFE | FILM | ART | STAGE | NIGHT+DAY | METRO | RIPTIDE | LETTERS | CONTENTS | ▼ WESTCHESTER HANG A RIGHT AT CHARLIE KIRK AVE.? GOP LAWMAKER SEEKS TO RENAME A STRETCH OF ROAD NEAR FIU. BY ALEX DELUCA A Florida Republican lawmaker has proposed renaming a stretch of a state road in Mi- ami-Dade after the slain con- servative activist Charlie Kirk. On September 23, State Rep. Juan Carlos Porras (R-Miami) filed HB 33, which seeks to designate part of State Road 985/Southwest 107th Avenue — the stretch between South- west 24th Street and State Road 90/South- west Eighth Street, in front of Florida International University’s (FIU) main cam- pus — as “Charlie Kirk Memorial Avenue.” Kirk, a right-wing commentator, was shot and killed earlier this month during a speak- ing tour stop at Utah Valley University. If passed, the bill would take effect in July 2026 and also direct the Florida Department of Transportation to “erect suitable markers designating Charlie Kirk Memorial Avenue.” “Proud to file HB 33 to designate Charlie Kirk Memorial Avenue in Miami-Dade County right outside @FIU,” Porras wrote in a post on X (formerly known as Twitter). “Charlie and I founded the first @TPUSA chapter in FL back in 2015 where this road is going to be, now it will honor his legacy.” In 2012, Kirk founded Turning Point USA (TPUSA), a far-right group that promotes conservative values on high school, college, and university campuses. In 2015, Porras says he and Kirk founded Florida’s first chapter of Turning Point USA at FIU in Miami. On September 15, just days after Kirk’s as- sassination, more than 700 FIU students gathered on campus for a vigil honoring Kirk. Porras filed HB 33 the same day that com- missioners in Lake County, near Orlando, unanimously voted to designate a highway in memory of Kirk. A week earlier, on Septem- ber 17, commissioners in Escambia County, Florida’s westernmost county, unanimously rejected a proposal to rename a Pensacola street after Kirk. Florida and its municipalities have a long history of renaming roadways after conserva- tive figures. In 2023, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signed a bill renaming a portion of a road in Her- nando County “Rush Limbaugh Way” after the late conservative radio host. In late 2024, Miami-Dade commissioners voted overwhelmingly to rename Palm Ave- nue in Hialeah “President Donald J. Trump Avenue.” And earlier this month, the Town of Palm Beach voted to rename a stretch of road near the president’s Mar-a-Lago home “President Donald J. Trump Boulevard.” | RIPTIDE | GET MORE NEWS & COMMENTARY AT MIAMINEWTIMES.COM/NEWS Charlie Kirk speaking with attendees at the 2025 Student Action Summit at the Tampa Convention Center in Tampa, Florida. Photo by Gage Skidmore via Flickr ▼ UPSTATE STINKIN’ BADGES EX-MIAMI-DADE ‘OFFICER OF THE YEAR’ ARRESTED FOR COSPLAYING AS COP. BY ALEX DELUCA A former Miami-Dade police officer who was once honored as “Officer of the Year” has been arrested for imperson- ating law enforcement. On September 22, Volusia County deputies were called to a residence in Deltona, 30 miles north of Orlando, in response to reports of a man parked in a driveway. Deputies say the man — later identified as 39-year-old Paul Fluty — claimed he was a Miami-Dade police officer working with the U.S. Marshals to search for a missing 13-year-old girl. He told deputies the girl’s phone had pinged in the neighborhood, according to an arrest report. But authorities quickly determined Fluty wasn’t a police officer — at least not any more. The Miami-Dade Sheriff’s Office (MDSO) fired Fluty in May after he reportedly failed a drug test stemming from a domestic violence case. It was something of a fall from grace; in 2020, he was honored as the Miami-Dade Police Depart- ment’s “Officer of the Year.” (The department changed names in January of this year as part of a state-mandated transition.) Several hours after his encounter with Volusia County deputies, Fluty was arrested and booked into a Volu- sia County jail on one count of imper- sonating a police officer. He was re- leased on Septem- ber 23 after posting a $2,000 bond. Body-camera footage shared on social me- dia by the Volusia County Sheriff’s Office shows Fluty flashing a police badge to deputies at the scene and pulling up a photo of his credentials on his phone. He told deputies the missing girl he was looking for “runs from the cops,” which he said explained why he wasn’t in a marked po- lice car; he also claimed the girl hadn’t been “of- ficially” logged as missing. As deputies placed Fluty under arrest, he could be heard asking, “What did I do?” “Google my name. I got officer of the year and everything,” he told deputies before being transported to jail. Following his arrest, Fluty told authorities he’d provided his old badge and credentials “out of habit” and “by mistake,” and that he “acciden- tally” claimed to be a police officer, according to Volusia County officials. A LinkedIn account that appears to belong to Fluty shows that he joined the Miami-Dade po- lice force as a detective in 2007 and launched a GPS tracking company called GHOST Industries in August 2020. Law enforcement officials in Volusia County say documents recovered during their investiga- tion suggest Fluty now works as a private inves- tigator and may have been in the area for an insurance case. [email protected] THE MIAMI- DADE SHERIFF’S OFFICE FIRED FLUTY IN MAY AFTER HE REPORTEDLY FAILED A DRUG TEST STEMMING FROM A DOMESTIC VIOLENCE CASE. ▼ MIRAMAR THIS IS A RECORDING BROWARD TEACHER: ‘BLACK PEOPLE ARE TAUGHT TO HATE WHITE PEOPLE.’ BY B. SCOTT MCLENDON A South Florida teacher has been placed on “administrative reassignment” af- ter coming under fire for inflammatory comments made during a rant about the assas- sination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk, a Broward County Public School District spokes- man has confirmed to New Times. Steven Babice, a social studies teacher at Everglades High School in Miramar, apparently flew off the handle during a discussion about Kirk on September 11, the day after the conser- vative influencer was killed, a 17-year-old stu- dent who recorded part of the rant told New Times earlier this week. On the recording, the man the student identified as Babice can be heard telling a class of mostly Black teens, “I grew up white. Everyone I know was taught not to be racist; we’re all equal. That’s what we were taught. Then I become an adult, and guess what I find out? Black people are taught to hate white people. So who’s the racist?” “Why do Black people hate white people?” the teacher continues. “Because cops are kill- ing Blacks, is that what’s going on? Are more whites getting shot by cops than Blacks? Somebody say yes because that’s a fact. How come there are parades, fires, murders, and burning cities down all because George Floyd, a career criminal, died? But when a white girl on a train gets stabbed in the neck — just whis- pers. If that was a white guy killing a Black girl, the world would be upside down, correct? So who’s the racist?” The student’s mother, who asked to remain anonymous for fear her daughter would face re- taliation, told New Times she was worried about sending her 17-year-old back to the class and ap- prehensive about what else the teacher may have been telling impressionable teenagers. She filed a complaint with the school and school district officials, who told New Times they were investigating the matter. “Broward County Public Schools is commit- ted to upholding the highest standards of pro- fessionalism and ethical conduct,” spokeswoman Keyla Concepción wrote in a statement she provided to New Times. “We take these matters seriously and will thor- oughly investigate all allegations to ensure our learning environments remain safe, respectful, and inclusive for every student and family.” The student who spoke to New Times says the incident was sparked after Babice began ar- guing with one of her classmates about whether Charlie Kirk had espoused racist ideas. She says she’s not sure who initiated the exchange, but that Babice became irate and began slamming his fists on his desk and kicking a closet door. On the recording, he can be heard telling students that he doesn’t want to hear anyone call someone racist without backing it up. Kirk led Turning Point USA, a nonprofit or- ganization that traveled nationwide to high schools and universities to advocate >> p7
