Acting Council President Mitch O'Farrell is giving an update on the status of the LA City Council after a leaked audio of racist comments.
The Los Angeles City Council was rocked by scandal over the weekend when leaked audio of several council members involved in a racially-charged conversation was released to the public.
"They're raising him like a little white kid. I was like, this kid needs a beatdown. Let me take him around the corner and then I'll bring him back," Martinez can be heard saying, also referring to Bonin as a"little b----." That conversation specifically refers to the redistricting of Koreatown, when Martinez said,"I see a lot of little short dark people," while talking about residents living in the area."I was like, I don't know where these people are from, I don't know what village they came, how they got here." She also refers to them as"tan feos" or"they're ugly," in English.
The following day, Martinez announced that she would be stepping down as City Council President in this statement:I sincerely apologize to the people I hurt with my words: to my colleagues, their families, especially to Mike, Sean, and your son. As a mother, I know better and I am sorry. I am truly ashamed. I know this is the result of my own actions. I'm sorry to your entire family for putting you through this.
Hundreds of protestors converged inside and outside of the City Hall chambers, angrily calling for the resignation of all parties involved. Ahead of the meeting's start, Councilman Mike Bonin took the time to address the outraged crowd with an"These people stabbed us and shot us and cut the spirit of Los Angeles. It gave the beatdown to the heart and the soul of the city. But before anything else in the world, I'm a dad who loves his son in ways that words cannot capture.
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