Los Angeles City Council member Kevin De Leon told CBS Los Angeles on Wednesday She has no plans to resign after a leaked audio recording in October 2021 made racist remarks by Councilmember Gil Cedillo, Council President Nuri Martinez and LA County Federation of Labor President Ron Herrera.
De Leon described the situation as “the greatest”. [challenge] “I’ve never encountered anything in my life” in an exclusive interview with CBS Los Angeles political reporter Tom Waite.
“I accept my responsibility for the pain that still exists today,” he said, adding that he has contacted various city leaders, organizations and their constituents to hold “tough talks.”
“I have to work hard. I have to repair. I have to help heal. I have to help restore,” said the councilor.
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in recording, Martinez is heard Referring to Councilman Mike Bonin’s 2-year-old son, who is black”looks like changuitoWhich means “that little monkey,” when translated from Spanish to English. De Leon compared the baby to one of Martinez’s handbags, which he called a “flippant comment”.
during speech at city council meeting Soon after the recording was released, Bonin said, “People shouldn’t apologize to me. I can’t forgive them because it’s not my prerogative. It’s a boy’s privilege too young to really understand that.” What is happening. “
martÃnez And Herrera has since resigned. Cedillo is due to relinquish his seat in November, after losing to Eunice Hernández in the July race for the District 1 seat.
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Asked why he didn’t do more to intervene during the racist conversation, de Leon told Vet: “I failed in my leadership.”
But he said he would not step down because he wanted to continue to advocate for his district, which has historically been “underrepresented” and “has gone through a lot of hardship in the past without real political representation.”
De Leon claimed to apologize “seriously” to Bonin and his family in a voicemail, and said he had not spoken to Martinez, Herrera or Cedillo since the audio leaked.
in a statement posted to Twitter On Wednesday, Bonin called De Leon’s interview “gaslighting of the highest order” and said the comments about his son were “brutal” and “inhumane.”
“He says he should have ‘interfered,’ as if he were a mere spectator to a racist conversation in which he played a central and abusive role,” Bonin said. “He can’t be part of healing until he refuses to resign. His stubborn refusal to do what everyone knows is deepening the wound he inflicted on Los Angeles.”
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Similarly many in the Los Angeles community were outraged by the content of the audio recording. According to CBS Los Angeles, protesters demanding De Leon’s resignation gathered outside his Eagle Rock home for four days, after which he was relocated.
Protesters at Los Angeles City Hall clashed with police who were attempting to shut down the building, after a city council meeting was held Tuesday due to COVID-19 concerns. Neither De Leon nor Cedillo were present.
Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti and even President Biden They have demanded the resignation of all those involved in the scam.
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