The Democratic president of the Los Angeles city council has resigned in response to intense backlash over racist remarks she and fellow members were caught uttering on leaked audio.
Nury Martinez stepped down from her seat Wednesday, the Associated Press confirmed. She, former labor leader Ron Herrera, and now former city council members Kevin de Léon and Gil Cedillo were heard in a recording released recently using racist language to ridicule a black child, disparage colleagues, and exploit the city’s redistricting process to gain an electoral advantage.
Speaking about L.A. district attorney George Gascón, Martinez said, “F*** that guy, he’s with the blacks.” She also insulted the black son of Mike Bonin, a white council member. “And then there’s this white guy, with his little black kid, who’s misbehaved,” Martinez said. She also called him “a little monkey” in Spanish.
Herrera already resigned as head of the Los Angeles County Federation of Labor, the Los Angeles Times reported. On Monday, Martinez announced she would be taking a leave of absence following the outbreak of the scandal but did not promise to relinquish her post. She updated Tuesday that she would “take some time to have an honest and heartfelt conversation with my family, my constituents, and community leaders.”
Bonin took to Twitter to condemn the comments, pleading to constituents to refuse to vote for any local elected official who didn’t call for resignations. “And if they refuse to resign, anyone elected with those 3 votes is associating themselves with this disgrace,” he said.
On Wednesday, Bonin posted a picture of an angry crowd gathered in the city council gallery. Protesters reportedly yelled “no resignation, no meeting,” demanding that the ten present L.A. city council members leave, since a ten-member quorum — out of a total of 15 — is required to commence a meeting.
“Nury Martinez, Kevin de Leon, Gil Cedillo. Governance of this beautiful city is untenable as long as you are on the council. Healing is impossible as long as you remain in office. Resign. Now,” Bonin said.
In addition to other California Democrats at the federal, state, and local levels, President Biden also signaled his disdain for the members’ behavior and urged them to forfeit their positions.
“He believes that they all should resign,” White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters at a briefing. “They should all step down.”