LOS ANGELES — Politicians, religious leaders, activists and everyday Angelenos directed their fury at the Los Angeles City Council on Tuesday, telling elected leaders about the rage and sadness they felt over a recording in which Council member Nury Martinez is heard making racist remarks and denigrating colleagues.
Martinez was not in the room, announcing shortly before the meeting that she was taking a leave of absence. She stepped down as council president a day earlier.
In the packed council chamber, audience members made clear that they viewed both of those steps as insufficient. Many said the meeting should not take place until Martinez and fellow Council members Kevin de León and Gil Cedillo resigned. All three can be heard on the recording, which was first reported Sunday by the Los Angeles Times.
After nearly an hour of chanting and shouting from the crowd, the room fell silent as Council member Mike Bonin gave a tearful response to the recording, in which Martinez made racist remarks about his young son, who is Black.
Martinez said on the recording that Bonin handled his young Black son as though he were an “accessory” and said of the child, “Parece changuito,” or “He’s like a monkey.”
“I take a lot of hits, and I know I practically invite a bunch of them. But my son? It makes my soul bleed,” said Bonin, his voice choked with emotion.
“I know I can never really know or comprehend the real weight of the daily relentless anti-Black racism my son is going to face,” Bonin added. “But man, I know the fire that you feel when someone tries to destroy Black boy joy. Man, it’s a rage.”
Other council members responded to the fury by announcing a series of reform proposals. One would ask voters to expand the size of the council in 2024. Another would create a new committee to look at ways of limiting corruption. A third would ensure that the next redistricting process — the subject of the secret recording — is decided by an independent citizens’ panel, not the council.
Council member Mitch O’Farrell, serving as acting president, denounced what he called “the casual racism,” the “abhorrent language,” the “dehumanizing racist reference” to Bonin’s son, the “denigration of Indigenous peoples” and “the familiar tropes against LBGTQ+ individuals.”
The council member, who is gay, said he had attended Bonin’s wedding to Sean Arian. He described Bonin’s family as “an inspiration” to him and his partner and the entire city.
“You deserved better,” said O’Farrell, his voice cracking. “We deserve better. The people of Los Angeles deserve better.”
De León and Cedillo were in the chambers briefly and quickly became the subject of angry chants from the crowd. They left soon afterward.
Pastor Thembekila Crystal Coleman, addressing the council, welcomed their departure. “Their seats are poisonous. The seat of Nury is poisonous,” she said.
Assembly member Isaac Bryan, a Los Angeles Democrat, noted that, like Bonin’s son, he was adopted by a white family and is Black. He called for the resignations of the elected officials caught on tape.
“We need these resignations before we can move forward,” he said. “But trust me, there will be a healing because everybody in this room and everybody in this city wants that healing. But we can’t have it without accountability.”
The leaked recordings have elicited outrage across Los Angeles, with demands for Martinez’s resignation coming Monday from Mayor Eric Garcetti, mayoral candidates Karen Bass and Rick Caruso, U.S. Sen. Alex Padilla and numerous members of the City Council.
Inside City Hall, dozens of Angelenos chanted and waited with eager anticipation for the doors to the John Ferraro Council Chambers to open.
When they finally did, people streamed in. Among them was Sade Elhawary, who with a group of fellow organizers walked in wearing black T-shirts with white text: “I’m with the Blacks” — a reference to Martinez using a profanity to refer to L.A. County District Attorney George Gascón and saying he was “with the Blacks.”
“For us it was about not just representing and being proud of being ‘the Blacks,’” she said, making air quotes with her fingers, “but also providing the platform for other people of color to be proud to stand in solidarity with Black people in a way that shouldn’t be denigrated or diminished in the way that she did.”
Before the meeting, the crowd chanted “fuera” — “out” in Spanish — with Cedillo, de León and Martinez’s names. Cedillo and de León were also heard on the tape.
Council members took their seats as thunderous chants of “We’re with the Blacks” and “Shut it down” echoed through the room. Bonin sat with his head bowed and hands clasped as the crowd continued to chant. Later, after speaking, Bonin slumped in his seat, receiving colleagues and members of his staff as he listened to the audience voice their support for him.
“I’m sick and tired of being sick and tired,” said community activist Morris Griffin, noting that he’s been involved with Los Angeles politics since the aftermath of the 1991 Rodney King beating by police officers.
Voicing an angry frustration echoed by many in the room, Griffin implored the council to change the City Charter to allow the council to force the three colleagues to resign. (Such a change would be a lengthy complex process requiring a public election.)
Before the meeting, a group of religious leaders held a news conference outside City Hall.
“This ends today. This ends right now. I will be here every day until our City Council members step down,” said the Rev. Rae Huang, who volunteers with Black Lives Matter, appearing with the group about an hour before the council meeting.
The leaked audio and its aftermath halted the political rise of Martinez, 49, who in 2019 became the first Latina to hold the powerful position of City Council president.
Martinez represents San Fernando Valley communities including Van Nuys and Sun Valley.
Martinez’s remarks were made during an October 2021 meeting over the city’s redistricting process with Cedillo, de León and Ron Herrera, president of the Los Angeles County Federation of Labor.
She referred to “little short dark people” in Koreatown as “Tan feos” — “They’re ugly.”
Speaking about Gascón, Martinez said, “F--- that guy. ... He’s with the Blacks.”
De León, Cedillo and Herrera all also apologized Sunday for their role in the conversation.
At one point in the recordings, de León appeared to compare Bonin’s handling of his child to Martinez holding a Louis Vuitton handbag.
Herrera resigned from his position Monday night.
The leaked audio of Martinez and her colleagues revealed explicit conversations about the council district maps that had recently been proposed by the city’s 21-member redistricting commission.
The once-a-decade redistricting process reshapes the city’s 15 council districts and sets off competition among various groups over political power and representation.
Martinez’s leave is the latest shakeup at City Hall, which has been rocked by numerous scandals over the last few years. Council member Mark Ridley-Thomas was indicted last year on bribery charges, and former Council member José Huizar is awaiting trial on felony charges stemming from downtown development.
Former Council member Mitch Englander was sentenced in January 2021 for lying to federal authorities about his dealings with a developer.
Martinez’s leave also arrives at a key moment for City Hall. As many as five council members could depart by the end of the year, depending on the outcome of the Nov. 8 election.
