LA councilmember involved in leaked audio tape refuses to resign amid criticism

A Los Angeles, Calif., city councilmember who was heard discussing racist topics with other city leaders in a leaked audio tape refused to resign on Wednesday, saying there is a “lot of work we have to face” in the city.

In a new interview with Univision News, L.A. councilman Kevin de León (D) said he “feels very bad” but would not give up his seat because he is fighting to help the city.

“I will not resign because there is a lot of work ahead of me. There is a lot of work that we have to face,” he told journalist León Krauze. “The crisis that is taking place in the district, the infections, unemployment, the threat of eviction, the humanitarian crisis of the homeless.”

Council members de León and Gil Cedillo have faced calls to step down after a recording surfaced earlier this month of an October 2021 meeting they attended, in which L.A. City Council President Nury Martinez made a number of racist remarks.

Shortly after the leaks, Martinez resigned her position as president and later her seat on the council, while L.A. County Labor Federation President Ron Herrera, who was also on the call, resigned from his position.

In the recordings, which first leaked on Reddit and were later released by the Los Angeles Times, Martinez made several racist comments, including calling a fellow council member’s Black child a “monkey” and saying the boy deserves a “beatdown.”

She also mentioned L.A. District Attorney George Gascón, saying “F— that guy, he’s with the Blacks” and called Oaxacan immigrants in the city’s Koreatown “short, dark people.”

The group also discussed how to circumvent Black political power and favorably redistrict to expand Latino control.

On Monday, Acting City Council President Mitch O’Farrell removed de León and Cedillo from committee positions and urged them to step down and follow the example of Martinez.

“I do not see the remaining two members who haven’t resigned coming back to council with any level of credibility whatsoever,” Farrell said.

On Wednesday, de León, who swiftly apologized for his comments after the recording was leaked earlier this month, said he was “so sorry” for his involvement in the controversial meeting.

“I feel very sorry for the damage, for the wounds that exist today in our communities,” he said on Univision News. “I am sorry and for that I apologize to all my people, to my entire community, for the damage caused by the painful words that were carried out that day last year.”