The Los Angeles Police Department is investigating whether a recording of racist rants between three City Council members was made illegally, Chief Michel Moore announced Tuesday.
Council President Nury Martinez resigned this month, while members Kevin de Leon and Gil Cedillo have not over participating in a discussion last year to wrest power from the black community. Influential labor leader Ron Herrera was also involved and has resigned.
The recording went viral, prompting President Joe Biden to call for the members’ resignations after Martinez was heard calling the son of a white colleague a monkey, among other racist remarks. California Gov. Gavin Newsom called on the pair to resign during a debate on Sunday, saying that Martinez did the right thing.
DISGRACED LA CITY COUNCIL LEADERS IN RACIST TAPE NEED TO QUIT, LEADER SAYS
“The department has initiated a criminal investigation into an allegation of eavesdropping,” Moore said in response to a question about the incident by the Associated Press.
Moore did not elaborate on his comment. California has strict laws about tape-recording conversations that occur in a private setting or over the phone. All parties must consent before taping can begin, and any violation can have civil or criminal penalties. This does not apply to comments made in public.
The California attorney general has also launched an investigation, but this is limited to whether the city redistricts along racial lines. Creating such a district would be illegal and a violation of the 1965 Voting Rights Act, which prohibits discrimination on the basis of race.
During the conversation, the council members and Herrera bemoaned the fact that black communities appeared to be gaining power after the recent census, and they discussed how to circumvent this to benefit the council’s Hispanic leaders.
They made disparaging remarks about white and Asian people as well, after discussing how to steal Los Angeles International Airport from the district of white councilman Mike Bonin, whose black son was the focus of the attacks.
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State Attorney General Rob Bonta called the taped remarks appalling, unacceptable, offensive, and deeply painful.
The council resumed in-person meetings this week after a boisterous crowd demanding the resignations of de Leon and Cedillo postponed an Oct. 11 meeting. Another was canceled three days later. The council has since selected a new leader who is viewed as a calming force by both Republicans and Democrats.
