Inside the room: The entire L.A. City Council racist audio leak, annotated by our experts
Updated Nov. 17 7:23 p.m. | The audio recording in which a racist conspiracy of Los Angeles City Council members plotted the destruction of the city’s Muslim and Latinx populations was allegedly leaked by someone on the city council. The person leaked the recording in response to a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit brought by the Council on Tuesday, the day after it was announced.
LAPD officers are investigating whether the leak is an act of racial animosity.
L.A. City Councilwoman Nury Martinez claims that Council President Herb Wesson “had his hands on” the leaked audio in which Council members discussed targeting non-Hispanic, non-white voters to win reelection, as reported by the Hollywood Reporter.
“I do know there was a conversation in there about killing the Latinx,” Wesson told the Hollywood Reporter in September. “It is about a conversation that had taken place between, quote, ‘the Mexicans, who are the source of the problems,’ and ‘the Hispanics,’ who are the source of the tax money. It was a conversation that took place and I’m taking it seriously, because that’s my responsibility as president of the council.”
If that conversation in the audio is real, Council members could be held personally accountable for its details.
The Council on Tuesday, however, did not release the audio, even after a Los Angeles County Superior Court judge ordered it do so.
Council President Herb Wesson’s comments come just days after LAPD investigators determined that the leaked audio is authentic.
“It would be a shame if we had to go through a special [police] commission to find out what happened,” Los Angeles City Councilman Gil Cedillo told the Hollywood Reporter.
The council has been discussing the audio leak over the past week. A hearing was held on Tuesday, after an L.A. Superior Court judge granted requests for information from the City Attorney’s Office and the Council.
The first official comments on the leaked audio were made on Tuesday by Mayor Eric Garcetti, who said he would have the city attorney look into the matter.
An LAPD