The president of the Los Angeles City Council has stepped down after leaked audio of racially-charged comments.
“I take responsibility for what I said and there are no excuses for those comments,” said former Los Angeles City Council president Nury Martinez. “I’m so sorry.” Her apology is in response to leaked audio, in which she can be heard making racist remarks about a fellow council member and his Black child.
The Councilmember is Mike Bronin, a white man. “Bonin thinks he’s f**king Black,” Martinez can be heard saying. She then mentioned a time when Bonin rode a float on a Martin Luther King Jr. Day Parade float with his 8-year-old son. Martinez said Bonin “handled his young Black son as though he were an accessory.”
At one point in the audio, Martinez refers to the child as a “Parece changuito,” which in English translates to “He’s like a monkey.” She also added that she felt like Bonin was “raising him like a little White kid,” sharing that she feels the kid needed a “beatdown.”
The conversation took place in October 2021 between Martinez, Gil Cedillo and Kevin de León and Los Angeles County Federation of Labor President Ron Herrera, the Los Angeles Times reports. The three were discussing redistricting.
The same day the news broke, Martinez also released an apology.
“In a moment of intense frustration and anger, I let the situation get the best of me and I hold myself accountable for these comments. For that I am sorry,” said Martinez.“The context of this conversation was concern over the redistricting process and concern about the potential negative impact it might have on communities of color,” she added. “My work speaks for itself. I’ve worked hard to lead this city through its most difficult time.”
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