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Los Angeles, March 2022: Tents of homeless people outside City Hall. (Photo: Elliott Cowand Jr., Shutterstock)

Suspected Los Angeles Racist Recording Leaker Questioned By LAPD

Former Federation of Labor Director of Finance questioned by police

By Evan Symon, July 20, 2023 5:13 pm

The leaker behind last year’s major racist recording scandal in Los Angeles, that resulted in several LA City Councilmember resignations, has been found according to new reports from several publications.

The recording, which also featured a conversation on how they could manipulate City Council boundaries and help reconfigure power, made national and international news in October of last year following being leaked, largely due to the racist language in the recording. The leak itself sparked widespread protests in the city, with the outcry from the scandal causing both Los Angeles County Federation of Labor President Ron Herrera and Los Angeles City Council President Nury Martinez to resign in disgrace. In addition, Councilman Gil Cedillo left office a few months later in disgrace, while Councilman Kevin de Leon managed to barely avoid resignation and a recall attempt due to lingering support from the Latino community in his district.

While the scandal has cost many lawmakers their positions and, likely, has ended the careers of all involved from moving upwards, there has remained an open question: Who leaked the recording in the first place? The audio is known to have been recorded in October 2021, with the four discussing council redistricting and Councilman Mike Bonin, a white and openly gay Councilman, and his young black son.

“Bonin thinks he’s f—ing black,” said Martinez in the audio. “He handled his young Black son as though he were an accessory. They’re raising him like a little White kid. I was like, this kid needs a beatdown. Let me take him around the corner and then I’ll bring him back.”

Martinez then proceeded to use slurs against the eight-year-old child, saying in Spanish “Parece changuito” or in English, “He’s like a monkey.” Other slurs and derogatory comments followed, with Martinez proceeding to disparage whites, blacks, and indigenous members of the Latino community.

Possible leaker questioned by LAPD

Following the two resignations, the LAPD opened up an investigation in late October into who leaked the recording. As the recording broke California’s law stating that all parties need to consent to being recorded, both civil and criminal penalties are possible for the leaker. For the last nine months, an investigation has been ongoing within the LAPD, with no major updates having been made.

On Thursday, new reports found that Santos Leon, the former Director of Finance for the Los Angeles County Federation of Labor, has been questioned by the LAPD over recording software that was on his work computer. It has been alleged that he used this software to use on Herrera’s meeting.

The LAPD has remained silent on the issue, largely due to it still being an open investigation. Leon has also remained silent on the issue.

“We are unable to comment on it because it’s an open investigation,” said LAPD spokesman Officer J Chavez on Thursday.

Legal experts noted that the leaker would likely face charges, but due to the effects of the leak, would face a an unknown fate in the courts.

“There are many in Los Angeles who would buy that guy a beer for what he did,” explained Ron Stern, a lawyer who has been a part of multiple suits involving illegal recordings, to the Globe on Thursday. “But, if it is Leon or someone else, nothing is firm at this point. We need to have a formal charge. But we also need to see what laws were actually broken. Right now its looking like some consent issues, and those are notoriously iffy. Let’s wait and see if there is a charge and there are listed laws broken before we speculate first. There’s a lot going on here.”

More on the suspected leaker is expected soon.

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3 thoughts on “Suspected Los Angeles Racist Recording Leaker Questioned By LAPD

  1. This leak, whether from spite or a conspiracy, has swept aside the only force standing against the “Progressive” fools who are now just a few seats away from a majority on the city council.

    Los Angeles council seats are won and lost because of ethnic group voting blocks, among other factors. If describing this factual situation is “racist”, then the word truly is meaningless.

    The Latino voting blocks in Los Angeles are now dramatically under-represented on the council, though Latinos make up the largest population block, the largest working-class labor block, and the largest ethnic voting block with families and kids.

    The removal of seats from the Latino community is a coup against the working families of Los Angeles. Congrats, communists. Your food is terrible, your art and music sucks, and all you produce is miserable people – but you won a few seats on the city council.

    I hope to hell the Latino political machine is gearing up to protect De Leon’s seat from this Woke/Globalist/Communist take over. Miguel Santiago, you dumb son of a gun, don’t mess this up.

    1. It’s unfortunate that council members such as the ones who were involved in this incident were so odious and despised, and that includes Kevin Deleon, although I definitely get your point. Loathing for Nury Martinez et al paved the way for all of them to be targeted and dumped so that the full-on commies could come marching in to “save the day” in the election that followed.

      Warnings about what actually did end up happening fell on deaf ears because it appears voters (and it’s not a huge number who actually VOTE in L.A. these days) couldn’t hear or heed them they were so angry (and thus blinded) because of the so-called “racism” issue. Now the L.A. City Council is well on its way to building the commie majority of its dreams. A neat trick courtesy of the even-more-radical-than-the-Dem/Marxist bunch.

      Couldn’t agree more:
      “Congrats, communists. Your food is terrible, your art and music sucks, and all you produce is miserable people – but you won a few seats on the city council.”

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