Lots of local Republican politicians are going to be under public scrutiny in the coming days for their links to a group of conservative activist students at Florida International University whose hateful racist, antisemitic and misogynistic chat from a few weeks last Fall has come to light, thanks to The Miami Herald and someone who leaked them.
But two electeds in Coral Gables, Mayor Vince Lago and Commissioner Richard Lara, had one prominent member of the racist chat group, Dariel Gonzalez, in social media posts from their campaigns last year. Las malas lenguas told Ladra that Gonzalez was “helping out” during early voting.
Lara says that’s not the case, at least for him.
“Dariel Gonzalez was not part of my campaign in any official capacity,” Lara told Ladra in an emailed response, through the city spokeswoman, Martha Pantin, to a call and text directly to him. “He was never employed or paid by my campaign, never served as a campaign volunteer, and never represented my campaign in any capacity.
“During the course of running for office, I met many individuals at community events and public gatherings, and Mr. Gonzalez was one of those individuals. The photograph referenced appears to have been taken during one of the early voting days when a 
number of supporters, friends, and community members were present,” Lara said in his statement. “Mr. Gonzalez joined in the photo, but as you can see, he was not part of the campaign team and was not wearing a campaign t-shirt like the others.”
In both the photo with Lara and with the mayor, Gonzalez is standing near Nicolas Cabrera, a Lago lackey who has “interviewed” Gonzalez — third from the right in this photo — on a podcast for an anonymous and poorly written Substack that is nothing but a political shill for the mayor. Las malas lenguas say they are friends. Ladra says they are board members of the local incel club.
“I am aware that Mr. Cabrera worked for my campaign,” Lara said. “Beyond occasionally seeing Mr. Gonzalez at community events during the campaign, I have no further recollection or involvement with him.”
Read related: Miami GOP’s recurring bigotry problem raises ugly head in FIU group chat
Still, Lara felt it necessary to remove the photos from his social media. He probably didn’t think Ladra would notice. But I got a screenshot earlier in the day. And then requested from the city any social media posts that Commissioner Lara deleted in the previous 48 hours.
“The posts that have been reported are abhorrent and completely contrary to the values and principles that I stand for,” Lara said about the racist, misogynistic, homophobic, antisemitic group chat. “With regard to your comment about social media posts, while a post may be removed from public view, it remains archived. Any request for records should be directed to the Office of the City Clerk, which processes public records requests.”
Asked why it was removed, Lara responded: “I chose to remove the photo from public view because I find the statements attributed to Mr. Gonzalez abhorrent and completely contrary to the values I stand for. I did not want the photo to be misunderstood as suggesting support for or association with those views.”
Ladra has a feeling that a lot of electeds are scrubbing their socials.
Lago did not return calls and texts from Ladra, as usual. But he went to speak to the FIU Republicans last November as part of their Civic Series. He also had group photos with Gonzalez from the campaign last year.
Gonzalez was also a docent at Merrick House and gave tours to visitors. Commissioner Ariel Fernandez shot an email off to the city administration on Thursday asking for action if Dariel Gonzalez was a member of any city board, working with any city vendor or involved in any city program.
“The news yesterday regarding the FIU chat was deeply disturbing and unacceptable,” Fernandez said in a statement. “Learning there were ties to the City of Coral Gables was even more troubling. The kind of hateful and divisive language that has come to light is not who we are as a community, and it reminds us that we still have work to do to uphold the values of respect and decency that Coral Gables stands for.
“Today, I asked our City Administration to ensure that the individual involved is no longer associated with the City of Coral Gables in any capacity. I have also asked that City staff and the Coral Gables Police Department fully cooperate with the authorities investigating the FIU chat, and to review similar language and potential threats that have surfaced in a Coral Gables WhatsApp chat involving the same individual,” he continued.
“Hatred and vitriol have no place in our community. The racist, antisemitic, homophobic, and misogynistic language that has been reported is unacceptable and will not be tolerated,” Fernandez said. “Coral Gables is a community built on respect, dignity and mutual regard for one another. We must continue to hold ourselves, and each other, to that standard.”
Read related: City raising an Israeli flag causes fuss and fury at Coral Gables City Hall
City Manager Peter Iglesias also sent an email saying it had already been addressed.
“I want to make you aware that the city ha taken prompt action regarding a volunteer associated with the Merrick House following recent media reports concerning messages attributed to him that contained racists, antisemitic, homophobic and misogynistic language,” wrote Iglesias, whose wife is a member of a Coral Gables WhatsApp chat group with Dariel Gonzalez and some of the same language.
“Upon becoming aware of the matter, the city reviewed the situation and determined that the individual’s conduct is inconsistent with the values of the city of Coral Gables and the standard we expect of those representing our institutions,” Iglesias wrote nonetheless. “Effective immediately, the individual has been removed from his role as a volunteer at the Merrick House.”
But Fernandez wants the city to do more. He has asked for the Coral Gables Police and city staff to fully cooperate with the FIU investigation, “as the Coral Gables WhatsApp chat he is involved in also features similar language as well as threats.”
Maybe they should talk to Mrs. Iglesias.
According to people who are familiar with the chat — Ladra is not in the group, but has been featured at times — those threats include a statement by Lago lackey Gonzalo Sanabria saying that if the city manager didn’t do something, Sanabria would resort to his toolbox. There were also derogatory statements made by Gonzalez about residents of Overtown.
The Gables WhatsApp group mostly exists to attack the three commissioners who Lago saw as enemies — Fernandez, Commissioner Melissa Castro and former Commissioner Kirk Menendez. Ladra thinks that the Coral Gables Police should investigate that group chat because it seems to operate as a political committee with no reporting requirements or oversight.
This kind of independent, government watchdog reporting is crucial to transparency and democracy. And more so every day. Help shine a light on the darker corners of our community with a contribution to Political Cortadito. Click here. Ladra thanks you for your support.
Coral Gables tied to scandalous, hateful, racist, antisemitic FIU chat group added by Ladra on
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