4 March 12-18, 2026 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 | ON THE RECORD FIU probes alleged racist, antisemitic chat tied to Turning Point USA. BY ALEX DELUCA F lorida International University (FIU) is investigating a series of racist and antisemitic messages allegedly sent in a group chat that included the president of the school’s Turning Point USA (TPUSA) chapter. Last week, the Floridian reported on text messages allegedly exchanged in a group chat between Ian Valdes, president of FIU’s chap- ter of the conservative group TPUSA, Dariel Gonzalez, a former board member of FIU’s College Republicans, and others. In the mes- sages, participants appear to take turns using racist and antisemitic slurs, including the N- word, more than 200 times. “Total Negro Death!” Gonzalez allegedly wrote in one message. In a different text, while discussing a Black student who report- edly left FIU’s College Republicans after be- ing subjected to racial slurs, Gonzalez wrote that another member of the group “called her a n*gger so she left.” At one point, one chat member allegedly listed dozens of ways of violently killing Black people, the Floridian reported, including cru- cifying, dissecting, and beheading them.” According to the Miami Herald, which also obtained and reported on the group chat logs, Gonzalez allegedly discussed “colored professors” in the chat. “I reguse [sic] to be in- doctrinated by the coloreds,” he wrote, add- ing that he used the term “colored” because “I was told we can’t say black anymore.” In a separate conversation about Jewish people, in which participants used the antise- mitic slur kike (which they spelled “kyke”), Valdes allegedly wrote, “I would def not marry a Jew lmao.” The Herald’s reporting also revealed Val- des writing, “We need to have a moratorium on immigration temporarily unless it’s some- one from a first world country.” He then clari- fied, “Yeah I obviously mean whites.” Miami-Dade County GOP secretary Abel Alexander Carvajal allegedly created and named the group chat, titled “Uber Retards Yapping Inc.” Carvajal’s Instagram bio describes the 23-year-old as “just your friendly neighbor- hood law student and hockey fan.” Carvajal, who in late January was ap- pointed to a two-year role on the City of Hia- leah’s Planning and Zoning Board, confirmed to the Floridian that the group chat in ques- tion was his, but denied any knowledge of the incendiary comments. Republican State Rep. Juan Porras, who also serves as a Miami-Dade GOP state com- mitteeman, issued a statement calling the messages “deeply disturbing” and urged Car- vajal to resign from his role with the Miami- Dade GOP. “Hatred toward Jewish Americans, racist rhetoric, calls for violence, all these ideas have no place in our party, our state, or our coun- try,” Porras said in a statement. Florida Republican state Senators Alexis Calatayud, Ileana Garcia, and Ana Maria Ro- driguez also denounced the language in the group chat in a Facebook post and a joint statement calling for Carvajal’s resignation. “Antisemitism and racism have no place in our society. We strongly condemn and find despicable the vile and unacceptable lan- guage that has been discovered in a group chat associated with the Miami Dade Repub- lican Party’s Secretary,” Calatayud wrote in the Facebook post. “The statements made by those individu- als clarify their moral and intellectual corrup- tion and demonstrate a complete misalignment with core, shared American values. The indi- viduals in the group chat have exposed how profoundly mis- aligned their be- liefs are to the views of the Re- publican Party of Florida. “We call for their speedy and immediate expulsion of party leadership. BYE.” Neither Carvajal, Valdes, nor Gonzalez re- sponded to New Times’ multiple requests for comment via Instagram and their respective groups.FIU spokesperson Madeline Baró tells New Times that the university is investi- gating the matter involving its students. “The university takes very seriously any allegation of discriminatory or threatening conduct,” Baró wrote in an email. “The al- leged conduct is under review and will be ad- dressed in accordance with the university’s policies and applicable law.” When asked about whether the students are facing disciplinary action, Baró said that student privacy laws “prevent us from shar- ing specifics.” Gabriela Burstein, the president of FIU’s College Republicans, tells New Times that Gonzalez “is no longer a member of the Col- lege Republicans e-board, and has not been since last semester.” “As of now, we are not ready to release a statement on this matter, but I can assure you this - we as an organization do not tolerate or condone this behavior,” Burstein wrote in an email. The alleged messages come as Florida Re- publican gubernatorial candidate James Fishback has attempted to inject extremism and white nationalist rhetoric into GOP poli- tics in the Sunshine State. During his cam- paign, Fishback has earned the nickname “Groyper candidate” while courting Gen-Z men and aligning himself with the likes of white nationalist streamer Nick Fuentes. He has faced regular criticism for his racist re- marks about his opponent, Byron Donalds, whom he has called a “slave to donors” and a “token Black” in Congress who wants to turn Florida into a “Section 8 ghetto.” Valdes’ Instagram bio includes a link to a recent Fishback campaign event in Miami. The young man previously described himself on Instagram as a “campaign employee” for Fishback’s Miami team, but has since re- moved that title, according to the Herald. This is not the first time that FIU students have been reported to have made racist com- ments in group chats. In 2017, New Times obtained screenshots of chats among FIU’s campus Republicans, showing the students joking about the deadly Charlottesville neo-Nazi attack and threaten- ing to “call ICE” on undocumented students who were asking Congress to pass the DREAM Act. In 2018, New Times published internal chats showing members of FIU’s Turning Point USA chapter joking about top- ics like white nationalism and Syrian refugees raping white women. Following the latter incident, dozens of FIU professors demanded that the school promptly kick TPUSA off the public universi- ty’s campus. FIU later said it wouldn’t be in- vestigating the messages, citing free speech. Right-wing commentator Charlie Kirk, who was shot and killed in September 2025 during a speaking tour stop at Utah Valley University, founded TPUSA, a driving force behind young U.S. conservatives, particularly on college campuses, in 2012. He served as the organization’s executive director until his death, raising nearly $400 million in funding during his tenure. [email protected] FIU is investigating a racist group chat that included the president of the school’s Turning Point USA chapter. Florida International University | METRO | “HATRED TOWARD JEWISH AMERICANS, RACIST RHETORIC, CALLS FOR VIOLENCE, ALL THESE IDEAS HAVE NO PLACE IN OUR PARTY.”
