After being caught on leaked audio making racist comments about her colleague’s black son, Nury Martinez announced in a statement that she would be stepping down from her position as L.A. city council president, however, she did not say she would resign her council seat.
The Democrat came under fire after a Los Angeles Times report on Sunday revealed she made derogatory remarks about fellow Councilmember Mike Bonin’s son, including calling the toddler “ese changuito,” which means “that little monkey” in Spanish.
“I take responsibility for what I said and there are no excuses for those comments. I’m so sorry,” she said in the statement Monday. “As a mother, I know better and I am sorry. I am truly ashamed. I know this is the result of my own actions.”
The recording of Martinez’s conversation with other Latino leaders, in which she made the comments was leaked and first published on Reddit.
In the recording, she said that Bonin’s kid (who was not even 3 years old at the time) “needs a beatdown” and is being raised like a “little white kid” by his white father.
“Let me take him around the corner and then I’ll bring him back,” the city council president said.
She also called the child “su negrito,” a derogatory Spanish word for a black person, and referred to Bonin as a “little bitch.”
Protesters had gathered outside Martinez’s home in LA on Sunday evening, following the Times’ report, and demanded that she step down.
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Bonin and his husband, Sean Arian, had issued a statement calling for Martinez and two other council members who were involved in the conversation to resign from their posts.
“The entirety of the recorded conversation … displayed a repeated and vulgar anti-Black sentiment, and a coordinated effort to weaken Black political representation in Los Angeles,” they said.
Martinez faced calls for her resignation from other council members as well, including Monica Rodriguez, who said the recorded comments were “vile and reprehensible.”
The LA Times called for Martinez to step down from the council Monday, saying “she should leave elected office immediately.”
Bonin echoed that sentiment in a message on Twitter Monday. “The LA Times is calling for Nury Martinez, Kevin de León, and Gil Cedillo to resign. They must,” he wrote. “That’s where the accountability and healing Los Angeles desperately needs and deserves will begin.”
