LOS ANGELES (AP) — A Los Angeles City Council member embroiled in a scandal over racist remarks and an activist fought at a Friday night holiday event.
The activist and Kevin de León got into an altercation at a toy giveaway and holiday tree lighting at Lincoln Park, the Los Angeles Times reported.
Earlier on Friday, de León attended his first City Council meeting in nearly two months following a scandal that erupted after a recording surfaced in October of former council President Nury Martinez, outgoing Councilman Gil Cedillo, de León and a labor union leader participating in a closed-door meeting in which racist language was used to mock colleagues while the participants schemed to protect Latino political strength in council districts.
Martinez resigned. Cedillo lost a June election and his last day in office is Monday. De León has apologized and said he has no plans to resign.
De León said in a statement to the newspaper that he was assaulted Friday night, while activists said the council member was the aggressor.
The Times reported two local activist organizations, RootsAction and J-TOWN Action and Solidarity, posted a video on Twitter showing a portion of the incident between De León and a man identified as Jason Reedy, a People’s City Council organizer.
De León’s office said Reedy and other activists were at fault. De León spokesperson Pete Brown said the council member was head-butted by Reedy, a member of his staff was elbowed in the face and a volunteer was punched in the arm, the Times reported.