Community leaders react to LA City Councilman Kevin de León's refusal to resign
After Los Angeles City Councilman Kevin de León announced his refusal to resign in the wake of a racist scandal, activists and community leaders throughout the Southland took to social media to express their anger and disappointment.
Thursday morning, protesters set up tents in Eagle Rock, with some saying they would not leave until a resignation was put in by the councilman. Around 10 people have staged a campout since Sunday.
"I know I have to do the hard work," De León said. "The damn hard work to restore the breach of trust I lost with so many folks. But my district does deserve representation and I plan to continue to represent my constituents."
Police told the protesters that the tents needed to be at least 300 feet from de León's home, so the set-up is actually in front of other residents' homes.
Others gathered in Wilmington for what they billed as a "healing circle," where they were joined by Councilman Curren Price and
"I hope he'll reconsider," said fellow Councilmember Curren Price. "Healing is not gonna begin until we get the resignations."
Price was one of many to speak at the healing circle, held at LA Harbor College, where they continued to demand for de León and Councilman Gil Cedillo's resignations.
Cedillo and de León, as well as then-President Nury Martinez and LA Federation of Labor President Ron Herrera were all revealed to be participants in a conversation from Oct. 2021 leaked to the public, where a litany of offensive and racially insensitive remarks were hurled around.
Herrera resigned the day after the audio was leaked, while Martinez resigned days later. Cedillo and de León had remained fairly silent, up until the CBS2 exclusive interview.
"If he's really sincere about really making it right, it's to resign — immediately," said one woman named Olivia who was in attendance at the healing circle. "Step aside. You've done a lot of damage. You've set us back 25 years."
While he maintained his regret and self-disgust for not standing up at the time of the conversation, political experts say de León is ignoring the feelings of his constituents who were also hurt by the words he and others uttered.
"What we heard on the tape was self-serving political manipulation about those individuals themselves. It wasn't about helping the Latino community," said Mindy Romero, the founder of USC's Center for Inclusive Democracy. "It was justified by helping the Latino community, and wrapped up in racism. While we don't know, again, what exactly is the intent here on the part of de León, it at least has the appearance in him citing wanting to serve his community and that they need him."
Pastor William Smart, with the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, echoed those concerns, saying there's really only one way for de León to make things right.
"I think the way he can right the wrongs is by leaving and allowing someone else to come into take that seat. I think that he has shown by his conversations and his allies that he doesn't care much about a lot of people around this city, and it would be disingenuous on his part if he stayed," Smart said.
