Nury Martinez
Los Angeles City Council member Nury Martinez has resigned as the legislative body’s president after making racist remarks about an openly gay fellow council member and his Black child, reports CNN.
“I take responsibility for what I said and there are no excuses for those comments,” Martinez said in a statement. “I’m so sorry.”
Martinez’ resignation as president is effective immediately, according to the statement, though she remains a member of the council.
The remarks were part of leaked audio that was posted anonymously on Reddit and obtained by The Los Angeles Times and Knock LA. According to the Times, the audio details a conversation between Martinez, Councilmembers Gil Cedillo and Kevin de León and Los Angeles County Federation of Labor President Ron Herrera, reports CNN.
Much of the conversation focused on maps proposed by the city’s redistricting commission and the councilmembers’ frustration with them, as well as the need to “ensure that heavily Latino districts did not lose economic assets” in the once-in-a-decade process, according to the Times.
The councilmembers then discussed openly gay Councilmember Mike Bonin, a White man. In clips of the leaked audio posted by the Times, Martinez is heard recounting a conversation and says “Bonin thinks he’s f**king Black.”
According to the Times, Martinez says Bonin appeared with his son on a float in a Martin Luther King Jr. Day parade and he “handled his young Black son as though he were an accessory.” The boy is 8 years old, according to a Facebook post by his father.
The Times reported that Martinez also said of Bonin’s child, “Parece changuito,” or “He’s like a monkey.”
In the leaked audio, Martinez can be heard speaking about Bonin’s son allegedly misbehaving while at the parade by hanging from a railing of their float, saying “this kid is going to tip us over.”
“They’re raising him like a little White kid,” Martinez said in the audio released by The Times. “I was like, this kid needs a beatdown. Let me take him around the corner and then I’ll bring him back.”
WATCH THE CBS NEWS REPORT HERE:
