Democrat Nury Martinez Resigns When Leaked Audio Caught Her Calling Councilman’s son “little monkey”

On October 10, Nury Martinez, a Los Angeles city councilor and president of the council, resigned as the council's president after audio recordings of her and two other representatives' "racist" comments were leaked the day before. Mayor Garcetti joined a number of his colleagues in calling for their resignations from office.

Following the audio's release, a number of California officials and political hopefuls as well as Gov. Gavin Newsom rushed to distance themselves from her remarks. It all took place just four weeks before the Nov. 8 general election.

An October 2021 recording of a conversation between Councilmen Gil Cedillo and Kevin de León, and Los Angeles County Federation of Labor President Ron Herrera was published by a now-suspended Reddit user and first reported by the Los Angeles Times.

Heard in the audio, Martinez, 49, spoke about Councilman Mike Bonin's black son as "Parece changuito" -which is translated to "like a little monkey"-while remembering seeing Bonin's son on a float during a Martin Luther King Jr. Day parade, where she said the child was like

"an accessory”

If that wasn't enough, Martinez continued "They're raising him like a little white kid," Martinez says. "I was like, this kid needs a beatdown, like, let me take him around the corner, then I'll bring him back."

When the conversation turns into a discussion about George Soro's funded Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascón, she says "fuck that guy" in reference to the prosecutor. "He's with the Blacks," she

In today's statement announcing her resignation as council president, Martinez apologized and said that there were "no excuses" for what she said.

"As a mother, I know better and I am sorry," she said. "As someone who believes deeply in the empowerment of communities of color, I recognize my comments undercut that goal. Going forward, reconciliation will be my priority."