3 December 22-28, 2022 miaminewtimes.com | browardpalmbeach.com New Times | Contents | Letters | news | night+Day | CuLture | Cafe | MusiC | MONTH XX–MONTH XX, 2008 miaminewtimes.com MIAMI NEW TIMES | CONTENTS | LETTERS | RIPTIDE | METRO | NIGHT+DAY | STAGE | ART | FILM | CAFE | MUSIC | ▼ MIAMI-DADE TECH DESPERATION MIAMI-DADE LEADERS ARE BEGGING ELON MUSK TO MOVE TWITTER TO MIAMI. BY ALEX DELUCA E ver since Twitter boss Elon Musk publicly aired his frustration with the company’s current home of San Francisco, Miami-Dade lead- ers have begun to collectively roll out the red carpet for the tech giant. Last week, a few hours after Musk fumed on Twitter about an investigation by San Francisco’s building department into the company converting space at its headquar- ters into bedrooms for employees, Miami Mayor Francis Suarez pounced on Musk’s frustration and made an unsolicited proposal for Miami to become Twitter’s new home. “It’s time to move Twitter headquarters to Miami,” Suarez said on social media. “It’s not about politics. It’s about the soul of our coun- try.” It appears that Suarez isn’t the only local leader itching to bring Musk to Miami. In an invitation letter penned to Musk on December 12, former Miami-Dade mayor and current South Florida congressman Carlos A. Giménez joined the chorus in imploring the billionaire to uproot Twitter to the 305. “We want to encourage you to explore our Free State of Florida and make the move to relocate Twitter to Miami-Dade County,” Gi- ménez writes to Musk. “We value freedom, we value hard work, and the people of Mi- ami-Dade will welcome Twitter to our com- munity with open arms.” On December 6, Musk took to Twitter to criticize San Francisco Mayor London Breed regarding the city’s investigation into the in- stallation of beds in Twitter offices. The sleeping quarters were apparently set up for employees working late to accommodate Musk’s increased workload expectations and self-described “extremely hardcore” over- haul of the company. Three days later, Giménez officially pitched his #Twitter2Miami concept on Fox News with Maria Bartiromo. He told Barti- romo that as former mayor of Miami-Dade, he created a “great tech ecosystem,” touting Miami and Miami-Dade as places not only with a diverse population but “diversity of thought.” In Giménez’s letter to Musk, he describes Miami-Dade County as an international tech- nology hub with pleasant weather, before boasting about its lack of state income tax and its opposition to defunding the police. The congressman concludes the letter with a flattery-filled paragraph praising Twit- ter’s “unparalleled levels of transparency” under Musk’s new leadership. “I hope that Twitter continues down that path and remains a beacon of free speech and First Amendment freedoms on the web,” Giménez writes. “Mr. Musk, the decision should be easy, move Twitter to Miami-Dade County.” It’s unclear whether Musk is seriously considering either proposal. Twitter’s com- munications department, which has been gutted since his takeover, couldn’t be reached for comment. Two of Musk’s old partners at online pay- ment company PayPal, Keith Rabois and Pe- ter Thiel, made the move to South Florida amid the pandemic, purchasing multimillion- dollar waterfront mansions in the Miami area. Leaders at the venture capital firm Founders Fund, Rabois and Thiel share some of Musk’s libertarian inclinations and general distaste for what they see as lopsided leftist politics in Silicon Valley. Giménez and Suarez appear to be enter- taining hopes that Miami can continue to capitalize on the exodus of tech gurus from California, spawned in part by the pandemic. Their rhetoric in courting Musk has been un- ambiguously tailored to appeal to his political leanings. Miami, Seattle, and Austin were among the popular relocation destinations for tech pro- fessionals who grew disillusioned with San Francisco politics and coronavirus-related re- strictions and shutdowns. Musk, for his part, announced in October 2021 that he was relo- cating his electric car company Tesla’s head- quarters from Silicon Valley to Austin. Global investment firms with focuses on the tech industry, including Softbank and Blackstone, meanwhile made moves to open up offices in Miami last year. Now-insolvent cryptocurrency exchange company FTX, the former namesake of the Miami Heat’s stadium, was planning to set up its headquarters in Miami, drawing fan- fare from Suarez and other crypto propo- nents. But before the move could materialize, the company declared bankruptcy last month. Its founder, Sam Bankman-Fried, was indicted on fraud and money-laundering charges this week. | RIPTIDE | Photo by Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images for The Met Museum/Vogue ▼ BROWARD HARD LESSON SOUTH FLORIDA TEACHER GOES OFF ON PRAYING MUSLIM STUDENTS. BY ALEX DELUCA A Broward County teacher is no longer employed at a Pembroke Pines charter school after a video emerged showing her frustration when she found Muslim students in prayer on campus. In a clip posted on TikTok on December 8 by user @gawpu, two students are reciting an Is- lamic prayer in a room at Franklin Academy when the teacher walks in. “Hold on, this my office,” she says to the students, as a whistle is heard blowing in the background. “I don’t know what’s going on over here... I believe in Jesus, so I’m interrupt- ing the floor.” The teacher then steps onto a student’s prayer mat, with her foot landing near his hand as he continues to pray. “Why are they in my office?” the teacher asks. “Who told them to come in here?” In a statement shared with New Times, Franklin Academy said it “does not tolerate dis- criminatory behavior” and that the teacher is no longer working at the school. “Yesterday, a very troubling TikTok video was shared with our leadership team... Upon receipt of the video, organizational and school leader- ship began immediately investigating the situa- tion,” the statement reads. “While we do not discuss personnel matters, we can share with you that the teacher in question is no longer a member of the Franklin Academy staff.” The teacher has not been identified. Franklin Academy said that as part of an In- ternational Baccalaureate program, it urges its students and faculty to develop “intercultural and racial understanding and respect.” The school has not responded to New Times’ request for comment on when the incident oc- curred. The TikTok video was featured in a Local 10 News report and has received more than five million views. In the com- ments section, the account that posted the video stated: “To clear up, we asked two teachers if we can go pray and they allowed us into the room that we were in.” “Everything was fine until she walked in,” the comment continues. The Florida chapter of the Council on Ameri- can-Islamic Relations (CAIR-Florida), the largest Muslim civil rights organization in Florida, said in a statement that it was relieved with the school’s swift action. “It is of utmost importance that school admin- istrators and staff know basic faith practices to serve students practicing their faith, in this case, Muslims,” CAIR-Florida executive director Imam Abdullah Jaber wrote in a statement. “We will protect our children. We welcome the prompt re- sponse from the school administration.” Jaber added that bullying is one of the most common school-related complaints CAIR re- ceives around the country. A 2022 poll by the Institute for Social Policy and Understanding (ISPU) found that nearly half of all Muslim families with school-age children reported having a child who dealt with religious- based bullying over the past year. One in five families, according to the poll, said their child faces such bullying on a daily basis. [email protected] GET MORE NEWS & COMMENTARY AT MIAMINEWTIMES.COM/NEWS “IT IS OF UTMOST IMPORTANCE THAT SCHOOL ADMINISTRATORS AND STAFF KNOW BASIC FAITH PRACTICES.” Elon Musk has publicly aired his frustration with Twitter’s current home of San Francisco.
