Democratic Los Angeles City Council President Nury Martinez is receiving criticism after making racist remarks, according to leaked audio.
The audio recording of a 2021 conversation between Martinez, Councilmembers Gil Cedillo and Kevin de León and L.A. County Federation of Labor President Ron Herrera was reported on by The Los Angeles Times.
During the conversation, Martinez reportedly criticized her colleague Councilmember Mike Bonin over the way he parented his Black son.
According to the Times, she “said that Bonin appeared with his son on a float in a Martin Luther King Jr. Day parade that featured a number of politicians. She also said the child was ‘an accessory.'”
The report continues, “De León seemed to compare Bonin’s handling of the child to ‘when Nury brings her little yard bag or the Louis Vuitton bag.'”
Martinez allegedly added, “Su negrito, like on the side.”
She went on to suggest the child was “misbehaving on the float and might have tipped over the float if she and the other women on the float didn’t step in to ‘parent this kid.'”
Martinez continued, “They’re raising him like a little White kid,” as the Times reported.
The council president argued this “kid needs a beatdown. Let me take him around the corner and then I’ll bring him back.”
Additionally, Martinez called Bonin’s son “ese changuito,” translating to “that little monkey,” according to the recording.
This is unbelievable: LA City Council President Nury Martinez was recorded calling a fellow councilmember's 2 year-old Black son "a little monkey" and said she wanted to give him a "beat-down." She said this about a TWO YEAR OLD. @CD6Nury must resign. https://t.co/RPlwBNyxaN pic.twitter.com/vs1nKGzkr0
— Adam Conover (@adamconover) October 9, 2022
Bonin issued his family’s response to the report on Twitter.
“We are appalled, angry and absolutely disgusted that Nury Martinez attack our son with horrific racist slurs, and talked about her desire to psychically harm him,” Bonin and his partner, Sean Arian, wrote in the statement.
They continued, “It’s vile abhorrent and utterly disgraceful. The City Councils needs to remove her as Council President immediately, and she needs to resign from office.”
Read the statement below:
Our family statement about today's ugly and hateful news. pic.twitter.com/0fPPXwsS5B
— Mike Bonin (@mikebonin) October 9, 2022
Concluding their statement, the pair added, “As parents of a Black child, we condemn the entirety of the recorded conversation, which displayed a repeated and vulgar anti-Black sentiment, and a coordinated effort to weaken Black political representation in Los Angeles. The conversation revealed several layers of contempt for the people of Los Angeles, and a cynical, ugly desire to divide the City rather than serve it.”
FOX 11 Los Angeles later reported that Martinez and León apologized.
“In a moment of intense frustration and anger, I let the situation get the best of me and I hold myself accountable for these comments. For that I am sorry. The context of this conversation was concern over the redistricting process and concern about the potential negative impact it might have on communities of color. My work speaks for itself. I’ve worked hard to lead this city through its most difficult time,” Martinez said in a statement to the outlet.
León said there were “comments made in the context of this meeting that are wholly inappropriate; and I regret appearing to condone and even contribute to certain insensitive comments made about a colleague and his family in private. I’ve reached out to that colleague personally. On that day, I fell short of the expectations we set for our leaders — and I will hold myself to a higher standard.”