Pressure continued to grow on Los Angeles City Council members Kevin de León and Gil Cedillo to resign Sunday in a racism scandal surrounding the city's redistricting process.
Black Lives Matter protesters were staging a campout Sunday morning in front of de León's home in Eagle Rock, demanding that he step down for his role in a leaked conversation that has already prompted the resignations of former council president Nury Martinez and former L.A. County Federation of Labor president Ron Herrera.
Acting Council President Mitch O'Farrell said Thursday the "people's business cannot be conducted" until de León and Cedillo resign, but Dan Halden, O'Farrell's communications director, said Friday that "we do have to conduct business." Along with Martinez and Herrera, de León and Cedillo were included in a recorded October 2021 conversation in which racist statements were made as the four officials discussed the city's redistricting process. Martinez, who made most of the offensive remarks, resigned last Monday as council president, took a leave of absence Tuesday, then resigned her seat altogether one day later under intense pressure.
A member of Black Lives Matter Los Angeles tweeted photos Sunday morning showing that protesters had set up tents in de Leon's Eagle Rock neighborhood. "NOTICE OF MAJOR CLEANING: Kevin De Leon is getting a wake up call this morning since he still hasn't decided to resign," the left-wing group People's City Council - Los Angeles tweeted. "Looks like LA SAN and crew are here to give him the same treatment that our Unhoused neighbors get in his district everyday."