LOS ANGELES — The Los Angeles City Council voted unanimously Wednesday to censure three current and former council members for their part in an incendiary conversation that contained racist remarks.
The vote appeared to mark the first time that the City Council has censured one of its own members, a move that carries no legal weight but adds to the public pressure on Council members Gil Cedillo and Kevin de León to resign. Council member Nury Martinez stepped down two weeks ago.
Before the vote, police officers cleared the council chamber of about two dozen protesters who were demanding that the council stop meeting until Cedillo and de León resigned. The police issued a dispersal order to empty the room, a tactic usually served for handling street protests, and demonstrators eventually filed out.
