A group of protesters calling for Los Angeles City Councilman Kevin de León to resign and end his 2024 reelection bid were escorted out of Council Chambers Tuesday.
One year after a recording was leaked of three council members participating in a conversation that featured racist language, leaders of Black Lives Matter L.A. and the People's City Council, which bills itself as an "abolitionist, anti-capitalist and anti-imperialist collective," rallied at City Hall and said de León's presence on the council "gives a green light to anti-Blackness in our city."
De León is the only participant in the leaked 2021 conversation who still holds office. Former City Council President Nury Martinez resigned shortly after the leak. Former Councilman Gil Cedillo, another participant, lost a reelection bid. Then-L.A. County Federation of Labor President Ron Herrera, the fourth participant in the conversation, also stepped down in the wake of the leak.
The four were discussing the redrawing of council district boundaries in favor of the council members when the racist language was used.