The head of Florida International University’s Turning Point USA chapter resigned following revelations that he sent numerous racist messages in a group chat for conservatives.
Ian Valdes wrote and affirmed messages targeting both Jewish and black people in a WhatsApp group chat. He has now stepped down from his position as FIU’s TPUSA chairman, after facing calls to do so from Republicans in the state, including Miami-Dade County Republican Party Chairman Kevin Cooper.
Miami GOP Secretary Abel Alexander Carvajal, who created the group chat, has not heeded calls to resign after concerns he failed to shut down the chat or address violent and inappropriate messages. Sen. Rick Scott (R-FL) has called on those associated with the chat to be held “accountable,” writing in a post to X that “racists and antisemites are not welcome in the Republican Party.”
The Turning Point FIU chapter said that it had been “made aware of the recent incident involving chapter leadership,” in a statement posted to Instagram over the weekend.
“The chapter president has stepped down from leadership, turned over social media, and we are currently reconstituting our leadership team,” it read.
FIU President Jeanette Nunez, a former Florida lieutenant governor, said that university police are investigating the group chat’s “abhorrent and extremely disturbing language.”
“FIU does not and will not tolerate violence, hate, discrimination, harassment, racism or antisemitism,” she said. “This is not who we are. This is not what FIU stands for.”
In one antisemitic exchange, Valdes changed the group chat name to “Gooning in Agartha,” referencing slang for male masturbation, and the mythical civilization promoted by Adolf Hitler’s top henchman, Heinrich Himmler. Valdes described Agartha as “esoteric nazism essentially,” according to the Miami Herald.
In other messages, Valdes said, “We need to have a moratorium on immigration temporarily unless it’s someone from a first-world country….Yeah, I obviously mean whites.”
VERMONT GOP LEGISLATOR RESIGNS AFTER RACIST TEXTS EXPOSED IN GROUP CHAT
The chat contained derogatory references to women and frequent violent messages against black people. In one exchange detailed in the Floridian Press, a user sent a series of violent messages about wanting to “exterminate n*****s in the gas chamber” and “eat n*****s,” among a stream of similar language.
In his capacity as chat administrator, Carvajal did not shut the chat down and, in fact, fueled the inappropriate rhetoric at times, according to messages obtained by the outlet. On several occasions, he used the terms “Miggress,” “Migglet,” and “Migger,” which are variations of a slur against black people.