Abel Carvajal #
Introduction #
Abel Alexander Carvajal, the secretary of the Miami-Dade County Republican Party and a Florida International University law student, resigned from his party role on March 23, 2026, weeks after leaked WhatsApp messages revealed he had created a group chat among Miami campus conservatives in which participants traded racist, antisemitic and violent remarks — including variations of the N-word more than 400 times. Carvajal confirmed to reporters that the chat was his but denied knowledge of the incendiary comments, telling the Miami Herald: “It’s been five months since this was sent and this is the first time I’ve seen this message.” His resignation came hours before a scheduled special meeting at which the party was to vote on removing him.
Background Information #
Carvajal was secretary of the Republican Party of Miami-Dade County and a third-year law student at FIU’s College of Law. In late January 2026 he had been appointed to a two-year role on the City of Hialeah’s Planning and Zoning Board. According to the Guardian, he started the group chat after the killing of Charlie Kirk in September 2025, as a space for conservative students connected to FIU’s College Republicans and the university’s Turning Point USA chapter. The chat’s membership included Ian Valdes, president of FIU’s TPUSA chapter, and Dariel Gonzalez, the College Republicans’ recruitment chair.
The Controversy or Incident That Led to Their Cancellation #
Allegations. The claims in this section come from leaked chat logs reported by the Miami Herald, the Guardian and others, and from a civil complaint Carvajal himself filed. The chat’s contents have not been adjudicated in any court; Carvajal has denied knowledge of many of the messages while admitting the chat was his.
The leaked logs showed the chat’s title began as “Uber [R-word slur] Yapping Inc.” before being renamed “Gooning in Agartha” — a reference to a mythical white civilization promoted by Heinrich Himmler. Participants used variations of the N-word more than 400 times, mocked a Black student’s departure from FIU College Republicans after she was allegedly called a racial slur, and joked about extreme violence toward Black people. The Herald found Carvajal had deleted 14 messages sent by other participants and 42 of his own before the paper obtained the logs; the Guardian reported he participated in some of the racist discussions himself, using derived slurs to refer to Black women and children, while earlier reporting said he made references to Mao Zedong and other derogatory remarks. “I guess to an extent, I bear some responsibility, cause I created a chat,” Carvajal told the Herald. “But if I had seen this at the moment, I would have removed [the most prolific participant] from the chat.”
Public Reaction and Consequences #
The revelations drew condemnation from across the Florida Republican establishment. State Rep. Juan Porras called the reports “deeply disturbing and completely unacceptable,” saying hatred and racist rhetoric had “no place in our party, our state, or our country,” and urged Carvajal to step down. Chairman Kevin J. Cooper announced the party had voted to request Carvajal’s resignation and begun removal proceedings; when Carvajal resigned on March 23, Cooper declared that “racism and antisemitism have no place in our Republican Party. Not today. Not tomorrow. Not ever.” Hialeah Mayor Bryan Calvo confirmed Carvajal had also resigned from the city’s Planning and Zoning Board. Following his resignation, Carvajal announced he was suing Florida International University and its president, Jeanette M. Nuñez, claiming his First Amendment rights were violated — framing the chat as an off-campus, private space of protected speech.
Current Status #
Carvajal is out of both his Miami-Dade GOP post and his Hialeah board seat, and the party he once helped run has formally disavowed the chat he created. His federal lawsuit against FIU was rejected in its early stage: Chief District Judge Cecilia Altonaga dismissed the students’ free-speech complaint in May 2026, reasoning that punishment was still pending within the university’s appeals process, and FIU went on to suspend Carvajal for two years — a sanction disclosed just four days before he was set to graduate from law school, per court documents first reported by the Miami Herald. His suspension runs until May 11, 2028, and he must reapply for admission if he wishes to return.
Impact on Their Career/Life #
A law student’s trajectory — party officer, city board appointee, imminent juris doctor — was dismantled in a matter of weeks. Carvajal lost the party secretaryship, the Hialeah seat, and ultimately two years of his legal education to a two-year suspension that landed days before graduation; his own lawsuit asking a federal court to bless the chat as protected speech was dismissed at its first hearing. His defense — that he built the room but never read what was said in it — was undercut by the Herald’s finding that he deleted dozens of messages, his own and other participants’, before the logs were obtained. The podcast, reflection papers and “Life Goals Action Plan” FIU assigned him now stand between him and any return to campus.