Sen. Padilla condemns racist remarks made by LA City Council members

California Sen. Alex Padilla (D) condemned the racist remarks that former Los Angeles City Council President Nury Martinez and other city officials made about African Americans and other ethnicities, including comments about another member of the council and their son, in an audio recording leaked online.

“I am appalled at the racist, dehumanizing remarks made by Los Angeles City officials and leaders that were made public yesterday,” Padilla said in a tweet on Tuesday. “As a father, I am offended that an innocent child was a target of these remarks.” 

Padilla called for Martinez and council members Kevin de León and Gil Cedillo to resign their positions on the council. Martinez resigned from her position as president of the council but still holds her position as a member.

Calls for Martinez to resign arose after the publicization of a recording from an October 2021 meeting in which Martinez, de León, Cedillo and L.A. County Labor Federation President Ron Herrera made several controversial and racist comments on a variety of topics. 

In the recording, which originally leaked on the social media platform Reddit before the Los Angeles Times first reported the audio of the conversation, Martinez made a racist remark about a fellow council member, Mike Bonin, and his son. 

“And then there’s this white guy, with his little Black kid, who’s misbehaved,” Martinez said. “They’re raising him like a little white kid, which, I was like, this kid needs a beatdown.” 

The group responded with laughter at Martinez’s comment. 

Martinez later said, “Bonin thinks he’s f—— Black.” 

The group also joked about “little” Oaxacan Koreans and discussed how to redistrict them to allow themselves to stay in office. 

Martinez apologized for her comments before announcing her resignation as council president. De León and Cedillo have also both released public apologies. 

The Times reported that Herrera resigned from his position as president of the Los Angeles County labor federation.

“At a time when our nation is grappling with a rise in hate speech and hate crimes, these racist comments have deepened the pain that our communities have endured. Los Angeles deserves better,” Padilla said.