Rep. Grijalva calls on LA City Council members to resign following racist remarks
YUMA, Ariz. (KYMA, KECY) - Arizona Representative Raul M. Grijalva released a statement in regards to the audio leak featuring Nury Martinez, the Los Angeles City Council President.
“It is not enough for former LA City Council President Nury Martinez to step down from her leadership role, take a leave of absence and issue an apology. She must immediately resign from the council altogether. Councilmembers Gil Cedillo and Kevin de León should be held equally accountable for their enabling of racist, homophobic language and their silence thereafter."
Background
For further context, the audio leak in question was about Martinez making racist statements about her colleague's son.
In the audio leak, she says her colleague, Mike Bonin, "handled his Black son as though he were an accessory."
Not only that, Martinez describes Bonin's son, in Spanish, as "like a monkey."
Two of Martinez's colleague, Gil Cedillo and Kevin de Leon, were in the audio leak as well, and the council members issued apologies.
Aftermath
As a result, earlier this week, Martinez is taking a leave of absence and has resigned from her Presidency.
In addition, Ron Herrera, the President of Los Angeles County Federation of Labor, also resigned from his position as he made racist remarks towards the Jewish community in the leak.
However, Cedillo and de Leon have not resigned since the leak became public.
As of now, the LA City Council held a meeting to determine the outcome of Martinez, Cedillo, and de Leon's future.
At the same time, protests erupted in the wake of the audio leak, calling for the council members to resign.
Simultaneously, Bonin released a statement following the leak, also calling for his colleagues' resignations.
Grijalva's final thoughts
In his statement, Grijalva offers his final thoughts:
“People deserve better from their elected representatives. As public officials, we take a pledge to represent and advocate for all our constituents. It is quite clear that Councilmembers Martinez, Cedillo and de León are no longer able to fulfill that responsibility.”
