Nury Martinez, the Council President of Los Angeles has apologized after a racist attack against a fellow member of the council and his family. She said that the remarks were made in what she called an instant of extreme anger and frustration in which she let the circumstances overcome her.
Mike Bonin, a fellow council member has demanded that she be removed from her post as the president of the city council. He also said that she should resign from office.
Nury Martinez’s remarks and that of other members were in the leaked call on social media and subsequently acquired by The LA Times. The newspaper has said that the audio contained a detailed conversation between the members of the council Kevin de Leon and Gil Cedillo and Ron Herrera, the LA County labor federation.
The conversation mainly revolved around the process of redistricting and the council members expressed their frustration. They wanted to guarantee that the districts, which are primarily Latino, did not lose out in this process that takes once every 10 years.
Nury Martinez Referred To Bonin’s Black Son As ‘That Little Monkey’
The conversation then veered around to Mike Bonin, a council member, who is white. In the clips, Nury Martinez is heard saying that Bonin considers himself Black, using an expletive to describe him.
Nury Martinez says that Bonin appeared at a Martin Luther King Day parade where he paraded his Black son and used his as what Martinez said was ‘an accessory.
Martinez and the other leaders were not aware that the call was being recorded though it remains unclear who recorded it. In one place, she refers to Bonin’s son as ‘that little monkey’. She also discussed the behavior of the child and said that the kid deserved a beatdown.
Both de Leon and Nury Matinez apologized for the comments. Bonin said in an interview that he was disgusted by the revelation.
