LA City Council President Krekorian says he’ll remove protestors if they don’t stop disrupting council
The Los Angeles City Council struggle to get through its meeting on Wednesday, Oct. 26, as the chamber erupted in pandemonium, chanting and calls to “shut down” the meeting unless Councilmen Kevin de León and Gil Cedillo resign. The new City Council President Paul Krekorian recessed the meeting and asked protesters to clear the aisle, and police in the chamber appeared to be ready to move in if needed.
The noise was so overwhelming that it impacted the council’s ability to discuss two proposed motions to censure former Councilwoman Nury Martinez as well as de León and Cedillo for their involvement in a secretly recorded conversation a year ago – which only surfaced this month.
Krekorian told the protesters to clear the aisle, and if that doesn’t happen by the time the City Council meeting reconvenes today, he will order the room to be dispersed.
The protesters were told they could be arrested if they don’t comply, but they continued chanting. A dozen police officers and council security were present, and one said the crowd has about 20 minutes from when the dispersal order was given to disperse — or the officers will start to move in.
Though the crowd size was smaller than a couple weeks ago when the latest City Hall scandal first broke, the noise made by the two to three dozen protesters was enough to drown out what city officials were saying.
Just as the day before, council members had to wear headphones to hear what others were saying to them via microphones and the comments by members of the public who phoned in.
It was otherwise impossible to hear what was being said for those attending the meeting in person.
Krekorian attempted to restore order to no avail. “Yesterday, we demonstrated that the work of this council will not be deterred by … distractions,” he said. “It will not be disrupted today either. I’m going to instruct the members of the public who are standing in the aisle to take your seats so we can begin public comments,” Krekorian said near the start of the meeting.
His remarks were drowned by the protesters, and none followed his instructions to clear the aisle.