Nury Martinez Resigns As City Council President Following Leaked Audio

The online leak over the weekend of a year-old conversation in which City Council President Nury Martinez slurs the young Black child of a colleague and spews other racially charged and ugly language swiftly led to her political downfall on Monday, as she announced her immediate resignation as president—but not from the Council—and apologized to her colleagues and their families. “I take responsibility for what I said and there are no excuses for those comments,” Martinez, who became president of Los Angeles City Council in 2020, said in a statement. “I’m so sorry…effective immediately I am resigning as President of the Los Angeles City Council.” The October 2021 conversation between Martinez, Councilman Kevin de León, Councilman Gil Cedillo, and L.A. County Federation of Labor President Ron Herrera was focused on the politically sensitive process of redrawing council district boundaries. After the recorded audio leaked on Reddit and was reported by the Los Angeles Times on Sunday, calls for apologies and resignations came quickly and protesters descended on Martinez’s home in Sun Valley, demanding that she be held accountable.

LA Magazine

Disgraced Former LA City Council President Said Cutting Police Funding ‘Step' Toward Ending Racism

The disgraced former Los Angeles city council president said that cutting police funding is a "step" toward ending racism. In the wake of the murder of George Floyd, former Los Angeles City Council President Nury Martinez backed a proposal to slash police funding for the City of Angels. "Today we [introduced] a motion to cut funding to the LAPD, as we reset our priorities in the wake of the murder of #GeorgeFloyd & the #BlackLivesMatter call that we all support to end racism," Martinez said. "This is just one small step," she continued in her June 2020 tweet. "We cannot talk about change, we have to be about change." Martinez resigned from her leadership role on Monday following leaked audio of her racist remarks with other Latino city council members last year, with some of the remarks directed at a White colleague’s young Black son. The Los Angeles Times first reported the leaked audio on Sunday of the October 2021 conversation between Martinez, Councilmembers Gil Cedillo and Kevin de León and L.A. County Federation of Labor President Ron Herrera. According to the Times, Martinez criticized another colleague, Councilmember Mike Bonin, who is White, over the parenting of his Black son, who she said he treated like an "accessory." 

FOX News

Man Dies After Shootout With LAPD Officers In Wilmington

An investigation is underway after a suspect was shot and killed when exchanging gunfire with Los Angeles police officers in the Wilmington area early Tuesday morning. Officials with the Los Angeles Police Department said Harbor Division officers were following the suspect who was driving a stolen car around 3:30 a.m. The suspect then crashed, got out of the vehicle and ran away from the scene in the area of Quay Avenue and North Banning Boulevard near the Port of Long Beach. During the brief foot pursuit, the suspect was struck by police gunfire and was taken into custody. He was then declared dead at the scene by paramedics with the LA Fire Department. No officers or witnesses were hurt in the shooting. 

FOX 11

Campaign To Recall Far-Left DA To Sue LA County For ‘Wrongfully’ Rejecting Signatures, Using ‘Inflated’ Voter Rolls

A campaign attempting to recall Los Angeles’ far-left District Attorney George Gascon will file for an injunction against the Los Angeles County Registrar for “wrongfully” rejecting signatures and using “inflated” voter rolls, according to a Monday statement. The campaign, Recall District Attorney George Gascon, identified “clear, obvious, and legitimate challenges” to at least 39% of the roughly 200,000 invalidated signatures in its recent recall effort, its statement said. Gascon, elected in 2020, has been ridiculed for his loose crime polices that prohibit prosecutors from seeking the death penalty, ended cash bail and prevented minors from being tried as adults regardless of the nature of the crime, the campaign website reported. To enact a recall, the campaign group is required to collect signatures from 10% of Los Angeles County registered voters, but current voter rolls are “inflated” making it hard to qualify, the statement said. The campaign referenced estimates from “independent and non-partisan data analysts,” suggesting that the current voter roll was artificially inflated by 208,000 to 515,000 people.

Daily Caller

Homeless Man Breaks Into Venice Restaurant For Second Time In A Week; This Time Through Skylight

After trying all the usual entry points to a popular Venice restaurant, a homeless man broke in through a skylight on the roof, raided the cabinets of top-shelf liquor, caused thousands of dollars in damage, and passed out on the floor until police arrived to arrest him. It was the thief’s second break-in at the same restaurant in a week. Security video showed two feet dangling from the ceiling of Venice’s Baja Cantina early Sunday morning, moments before the thief lowered himself inside. He then headed straight for the bar, pulling out multiple bottles of top-shelf liquor and drinking directly from them. For the next hour and a half, the increasingly intoxicated intruder downed multiple bottles, smoked cigarettes, broke a refrigerator, and caused thousands of dollars' worth of damage.

FOX 11

Two Fatal Shootings Are Under Investigation, And Authorities Say It Is Unclear If They Were Related

Homicide detectives from the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department are investigating a Saturday morning shooting death in Hawaiian Gardens and another in Lynwood. Deputies responded to a reported shooting around 1 a.m. at Norwalk Boulevard and 226th Street in Hawaiian Gardens, the sheriff’s department said. They found two men with gunshot wounds nearby. One of the men was dead and the other was hospitalized. About 4:15 a.m., nearly 15 miles away, deputies responded to a report of another shooting at Long Beach Boulevard and Minnesota Avenue in Lynwood, the sheriff’s department said. They found a man dead from a gunshot wound. Authorities did not release the names of the victims or say whether they believed the shootings were related.

Los Angeles Times

Police Departments Face Staffing Shortage As Some Crime Rates Rise. What's The Solution?

Cities across the U.S. are losing police officers like never before — potentially leaving American communities more vulnerable to crime. To fill those crucial gaps, some departments are offering tens of thousands of dollars in bonuses to hire the next men and women in uniform. What will it take to keep enough officers on our streets? If you stroll down the Hollywood Walk of Fame, you’ll run right into a restaurant owned by Tim Ratcliff. “It’s probably the busiest corner in Hollywood,” he says of his sushi spot Shin on La Brea Avenue in California. There is so much activity, between the foot and vehicle traffic, that Ratcliff put up cameras around the hot spot; a spot that is now a flashpoint for a larger discussion after an incident in August. “I was actually sitting down right here at the table to have lunch with my girlfriend. Right as I sat down, I looked over and a homeless man had come over and he sucker punched a 64-year-old man in the head. Uh, knocked him over,” says Ratcliff, who captured the incident on his cameras. “What went through my mind right then is, 'You crossed the line. This was too far. You can't, you can't do this and just get away with it.'"

ABC News 4

Girl, 16, Reported Missing After Last Being Seen In Inglewood

Police Monday sought the public’s help to locate a missing 16-year-old girl last seen in Inglewood. Esmeralda Mendoza was last seen about 10 p.m. Sunday in the 3300 block of 111th Street, near Morningside High School, according to the Inglewood Police Department. Esmeralda is Hispanic, 5 feet, 3 inches tall and weighs 140 pounds, with blue hair and brown eyes. Inglewood police also noted she is suicidal and has a history of leaving at night and returning early in the morning. Anyone with information on Esmeralda’s whereabouts was asked to contact Inglewood Police Department Detective Thompson at 310-412-4386 or jthompson@cityofinglewood.org. Anonymous tips can be called in to Crime Stoppers at 800-222-8477 or submitted online at lacrimestoppers.org.

MyNewsLA

2 Arrested For Allegedly Distributing Counterfeit Medicine At LA County Street Booths, Store Fronts

Two people were arrested for distributing counterfeit medicine across Los Angeles County, authorities announced. According to the L.A. County Sheriff's Department, the suspects, who were not identified, have been distributing counterfeit and illicit medicine from several street booths and store fronts. During a search, investigators seized thousands illicit pharmaceuticals, including drugs suspected of being counterfeit, worth a total of $142,000. They also seized $77,214 in currency allegedly made from the sale of the drugs. Investigators said the medicine found requires a prescription to be furnished by a properly licensed pharmacy. "Counterfeit medication is growing problem in Los Angeles County," read a statement from the sheriff's department. "Counterfeit medication can contain unknown substances which could led to illness or death." The incident remains under investigation.

ABC 7

Deputies Asking For Help Finding 11-Year-Old Boy Last Seen In Pasadena

The Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department is asking for the public's help finding an 11-year-old that was last seen in Pasadena. Jerrel Bernard was last seen on Oct. 10 at 4:30 p.m. in the 4800 block of Oak Grove Drive. Deputies said he is 4'9", 81 pounds and has short black hair with brown eyes. He was last seen wearing a gray T-shirt, black pants and white shoes. Deputies believe he might be going to somewhere in the 800 block of west 43rd Place in Los Angeles. Anyone with information about Bernard's whereabouts is encouraged to call the Sheriff's Department at (626) 798-1131.

CBS 2

Monument Unveiled For Maryland Officer Murdered On Duty In 1907

A monument unveiling was held Saturday at Green Mount Cemetery for a police officer killed in the line of duty 115 years ago and laid to rest in a previously unmarked grave. When Patrolman August Baker left for his beat on Thursday, Oct. 3, 1907, his fellow officers never thought it would be the last time they would see him alive. Baker is the only officer of the Cumberland Police Department to die in the line of duty. His patrol was the canal wharf area, a hardscrabble section of Cumberland dotted with saloons and shanties. Baker was making his way down Wineow Street when he came upon a disturbance outside James Hussey's Saloon. According to Pastor Michael Mudge, who has done extensive research on the incident, Baker was attempting to subdue a man who was allegedly involved in the disturbance when the man resisted arrest. During the altercation the subject produced a pistol and shot Baker in the chest.

Cumberland Times-News, Md.

Watch: LEOs Rescue Man After Crashed Car Bursts Into Flames

A man owes his life to a couple of officers who saved him after a car crash erupted into flames. According to WFLA, the crash occurred after the driver had crossed lanes of traffic on I-75, smashing into a concrete wall near an exit, causing the vehicle to catch on fire. Body cam footage showed an officer approaching the vehicle and asking if anybody was in the car. Bystanders told the officer someone was inside and the police officer then ran toward the car. Two officers helped pull the man from the wreckage as the man’s legs caught on fire. The officers were able to pat the fire out. According to the police department, the vehicle was then completely engulfed in flames in less than a minute after the man was saved. “The driver survived thanks to the quick actions of some Good Samaritans who called 911 and stopped to help,” the Cincinnati Police Department said in a statement. “Officers Sharma and Myers were the first on scene and helped pull the driver from the burning car.”

PoliceOne

Caruso Deploys Army Of Canvassers To Reach ‘Marginalized Communities' In LA Mayoral Race

Billionaire developer Rick Caruso, who is running for mayor of Los Angeles and secured a spot this summer in a runoff against Rep. Karen Bass (D-CA), is spending millions of dollars in a bid to reach "marginalized communities" in the final weeks of the race. Caruso, a former Republican who became a Democrat this year and is boosted by a $60 million war chest filled mostly with his own money, deployed several hundred paid canvassers and volunteers to scour communities for potential voters overlooked by other campaigns, with an eye especially for those who did not vote in the primaries, according to the Associated Press. The report said select staff who use demographic research and polling decide where to send canvassers, with a focus on undecided Latinos, Asians, and independents. The canvassers then go door to door or call, text, or email these people.

Washington Examiner

LA City Council To Meet For First Time Since Recordings Leaked, O'Farrell To Interim As Council President

The Los Angeles City Council will meet today for the first time since Nury Martinez resigned as its president. Martinez resigned from her leadership position Monday, a day after the release of a recorded conversation with Councilmen Kevin de León and Gil\ Cedillo and L.A. County Federation of Labor President Ron Herrera that involved racial slurs directed at Councilman Mike Bonin's son and discussions on how the council members could impact the redistricting process to work in their favor. With Martinez stepping down, Councilman Mitch O'Farrell, the council president pro tempore, was elevated to interim council president. O'Farrell was among the many council members and other elected officials saying Martinez, de León and Cedillo should all resign from the council.

Westside Current