San Bernardino officials condemn racist comments made during City Council meeting

SAN BERNARDINO, Calif. (KABC) -- Officials in San Bernardino on Monday condemned racist remarks that were made by two men during a recent City Council meeting.

The comments were directed at a Black woman who was speaking during the public comment section of the council meeting held on Oct. 18. The men who made the comments attended the meeting virtually via Zoom.

Audio and video of the incident were recorded live as the incident occurred.

"I would ask that you apologize first for what just came through there while you're telling me to wait," the woman said, addressing the councilmembers, after she was interrupted by the unidentified men. "You should be appalled at what just happened."

In a statement issued last week, the city of San Bernardino described the men's comments as "offensive and unacceptable, and the City of San Bernardino condemns what happened in no uncertain terms. The City apologizes to anyone who heard what was said. Our community will not tolerate this type of hateful language in our public meetings, or anywhere."

On Monday, San Bernardino's Mayor Helen Tran was joined by community and religious leaders in speaking out against racism.

Tran said the incident had opened "the wounds that many of us thought were behind us and have inflicted new wounds that will require healing. Nerves are still raw."

Meanwhile, the city continued its efforts to identify the persons who made the offensive comments.

"We have identified all the IP addresses that were in the queue at the time and are working to identify those that were involved," a news release said, adding that San Bernardino police are "investigating this as a violation of California Penal Code 403."

San Bernardino is reviewing its remote comment protocols to identify steps that can be taken to prevent a similar incident from happening again, a city spokesperson said.