Nury Martinez, the former president of the Los Angeles City Council, who stepped down this week from that role after the publication of a 2021 recording that captured her making racist remarks, resigned from the council Wednesday.

“It is with a broken heart that I resign my seat for Council District 6, the community I grew up in and my home,” Martinez wrote in a statement released Wednesday afternoon.

On a leaked recording published Sunday by the Los Angeles Times, Martinez, a Latina, is heard referring to the Black son of white councilman Mike Bonin as a “changuito,” a Spanish term meaning little monkey, and telling council members Gil Cedillo and Kevin de León, and Ron Herrera, president of the L.A. County Federation of Labor, all of whom are Latino, that he “needs a beatdown.”

Just hours after the recording was published by the Times, Martinez swiftly issued an apology and resigned as president, but she resisted calls to step down from the council altogether, even as pressure swiftly mounted from all corners of the political world to force her out.

Cedillo and de León, who were present during the conversation, have not indicated that they plan to give up their seats on the council.

On Tuesday, President Biden let it be known that he hoped the council members would step down.

“He believes they should all resign,” Karine Jean-Pierre, the White House press secretary, said. “The language that was used and tolerated in that conversation was unacceptable, and it was appalling.”

Council meetings held Tuesday and Wednesday were disrupted by protesters who flooded the gallery and vented their anger about the revelations.

“What do we want? Investigations. When do we want it? Now,” the crowd was heard chanting during a live feed of Wednesday’s meeting.

The raucous protest continued, despite assurances by President Pro Tempore Mitch O’Farrell that Martinez, Cedillo and de León would not be present at the meeting and were not in the chambers.

Story continues

Amid…