Leaked audio of Los Angeles City Council members making racist comments roiled California politics Monday, with multiple officials calling for the members’ resignations, including Sen. Alex Padilla.
The audio, brought to the light by the Los Angeles Times on Sunday, captured a conversation from about a year ago concerning redistricting between Los Angeles City Council President Nury Martinez, Council members Gil Cedillo and Kevin de León and Los Angeles County Federation of Labor President Ron Herrera. Martinez — who has since resigned as president, though not relinquished her seat — can be heard using racist and derisive terms, joined by de León.
The language included homophobic terminology toward another councilman; racist descriptions of his Black son; and harmful stereotypes of Indigenous people in the city’s Koreatown.
Leaked audio of Los Angeles City Council members making racist comments roiled California politics Monday, with multiple officials calling for the members’ resignations, including Sen. Alex Padilla.
The audio, brought to the light by the Los Angeles Times on Sunday, captured a conversation from about a year ago concerning redistricting between Los Angeles City Council President Nury Martinez, Council members Gil Cedillo and Kevin de León and Los Angeles County Federation of Labor President Ron Herrera. Martinez — who has since resigned as president, though not relinquished her seat — can be heard using racist and derisive terms, joined by de León.
The language included homophobic terminology toward another councilman; racist descriptions of his Black son; and harmful stereotypes of Indigenous people in the city’s Koreatown.