Protesters forced to leave LA Council meeting as calls for resignations continue

LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- Protesters were cleared from the Los Angeles City Council Chamber Tuesday morning as they tried to, once again, disrupt the council's meeting, calling for the resignations of Councilmen Kevin de León and Gil Cedillo.

Council President Paul Krekorian issued several warnings, noting that the meeting "cannot proceed'' with disruptions before police in riot gear moved in and forced the protesters to leave.

Protesters have been trying to disrupt city council meetings since the city hall racism scandal broke, saying de León and Cedillo should resign before the city conducts its business. Krekorian had previously allowed the couple of dozen protesters to chant, shout and slap benches while the council members continued with the meeting, with council members wearing earphones to hear.

Krekorian called out Hamid Khan, an organizer with Stop LAPD Spying Coalition, and Pete White, founder of the Los Angeles Community Action Network, by name. Khan was using a bullhorn to yell at the council.

Kevin de León says of constituents: 'If I were to step down, then they'd have no voice in City Hall'

In an interview with ABC7's Marc Brown, embattled Los Angeles City Councilmember Kevin de León discussed his decision to remain in office despite widespread calls for him to resign.

On Friday, protesters were kept out of the chamber due to what officials claimed was the room reaching capacity. Neither de León nor Cedillo were present Tuesday.

Meanwhile, protesters with the Black Lives Matter group who have been camping out near de León's Eagle Rock home for the past several weeks say they want to know where de León is.

They say the councilman does not appear to be living in his Eagle Rock home.

"We are launching a new phase of 'Operation Resignation' called 'Where in the world is Kevin de León?'" said Dr. Melina Abdullah with BLM in Los Angeles. "We can't find him. He's not here, he's not in city council meetings, he's not in his district office ... we don't know how he can possibly be serving the constituents of his district when no one can find him."

On Monday, de León reiterated his desire to regain the trust of the community and his colleagues. He visited the Crenshaw district and meet with a group of African American leaders.

"I vowed that I would reach out and start the dialogue [and] come to Black Los Angeles, which I have been coming to, I have been having a lot of private discussions," he said.

READ MORE | Kevin de León meets with African American leaders in Crenshaw to discuss race divisions

De León isn't publicizing these meetings, but those he met with told Eyewitness News the discussion centered on racial divisions, Black-Latino relations, and de León's future on the city council.

Items on Tuesday's agenda included establishing an Office of Racial Equity, adopting the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance's working definition of antisemitism, providing funding to expand rental assistance in District 11 and voting on second consideration of a proposed ordinance prohibiting misleading advertising by pregnancy services centers in L.A.

City News Service contributed to this report.