Protests erupt at LA City Hall when embattled Councilman Kevin De Leon shows up to council meeting
DOWNTOWN LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- Chaos erupted when embattled Los Angeles Councilman Kevin De Leon showed up to Friday's council meeting. Los Angeles police officers were seen wearing riot gear, and protesters were yelling for De Leon to resign.
Shortly after 11 a.m., De Leon walked in and sat down during the meeting. Councilman Mike Bonin got up and left the meeting, still angry about the racist recordings from October. Minutes after De Leon walked in, Bonin tweeted this:
Vile racist Kevin de León just showed up for council.
I walked out, as did @mhdcd8 and @nithyavraman.
He needs to resign.
A recess was called, and some councilmembers walked up to De Leon and talked to him. De Leon lasted about 20 minutes in the chamber before he got up, waved goodbye and left. Bonin then made his remark about De Leon's presence during a motion presentation about damages and protesters in the chamber.
"The problem was on those tapes. The problem is in this room. The problem is that somebody's ego refuses to get out of this way of his need to resign," said Bonin. "The road to redemption begins with resignation. That will end the protests."
Some of the protesters were removed from the chamber for disrupting the meeting.
But others stood up in support of keeping De Leon in his seat, who represents council district 14, and for the council to not move forward with a motion report that would impose consequences on a censured councilmember.
"This would be the second time in a matter of few years that we would be left without representation," said Genny Guerrero, a CD 14 constituent. "I think there should be a premeditated set a of rules and appropriate consequences should a censureship occur. However, you cannot build a plane mid-flight. Please withdraw this motion as it does not establish appropriate procedures that would allow our district to function."
De Leon published the statement below:
"After spending time reflecting with my constituents and those outside my district, today I returned to City Council today. Many Spanish-speaking residents reached out to me yesterday about their inability to be heard during a committee meeting on an item critical to Council District 14. I have returned to assure them that I will fight to protect our district and their voices. Unfortunately, agitators continued to disrupt the meeting and prevented scores of my constituents from being able to give public comment because disruptors were allowed to stay and were not removed. I will continue to defend my constituents and improve the quality of life for the communities I serve despite the lack of control in the Council."
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