Another official who uttered racist statements at an L.A. City Council meeting has resigned. L.A. Labor head Ron Herrera resigned days after L.A. City Council president Nury Martinez turned in her resignation.
The resignations were turned in days after the L.A. Times published a 2021 audio in which Martinez, Herrera, and City Councilmembers Kevin de León (pictured with Martinez) and Gil Cedillo were overheard making racist comments.
In the audio, Martinez described the adopted son of City Councilmember Mike Bonin as “Like a monkey.”
And she said Bonin (right), who is gay, handled his son like an “accessory”.
Martinez said of L.A. County D.A. George Gascon, “F–k that guy. He’s with the Blacks.”
The councilmembers also discussed the redistricting process which would give more voting power to Latinos and less to Black voters.
Martinez resigned on Monday, Oct. 10, a day after the audio was published.
In a statement, the disgraced lawmaker wrote:
“I take responsibility for what I said and there are no excuses for those comments. I sincerely apologize to the people I hurt with my words…”
The labor federation’s leaders demanded Tuesday that the three City Council members involved in the scandal should submit their resignations as well, according to The Times.
But, internally, the labor federation complained that the leaked audio was part of a “serious security and privacy breach” at its offices involving “illegal” recordings of “many private and confidential conversations in private offices and conference rooms,” according to a text provided to The Times.
The federation initially attacked The Times for publishing the audio.
“When I saw that, I about threw my phone,” said one of the federation’s vice presidents on Tuesday. He reportedly requested anonymity.
City Councilmembers de León and Cedillo have not tendered their resignations.
