Los Angeles City Councilman Kevin de León was involved in a fight while attending a Christmas tree lighting event Friday night in the city.
Video of the incident captured by an eyewitness shows De Leon attacking a man in the hallway of the event in Lincoln Heights.
According to the Los Angeles Police Department, a large fight broke out around 6:30 p.m. local time in the 3500 block of Valley Boulevard. Police said the eight people involved in the fight had left the scene before officers arrived.
In a statement, de León alleged that he was “violently assaulted” by “self-proclaimed activists.”
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Los Angeles City Councilman Kevin de León was involved in a fight while attending a Christmas tree lighting event Friday night in the city.
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“Tonight a staff member, a volunteer and I were violently and physically assaulted by self-proclaimed activists at a community holiday event to the dismay of a crowd of families and children who were there to celebrate the lighting of the Christmas tree and receive toys and gifts. gifts. food,” he wrote.
“The escalation of rhetoric is reaching a fever pitch, moving from verbal threats to actual acts of violence and must stop before more serious damage or loss of life occurs,” the councilor continued. “Violence is not free speech and has no place in politics or democracy.”
According to the Los Angeles Police Department, a large fight broke out around 6:30 p.m. local time in the 3500 block of Valley Boulevard.
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No suspects were detained in connection with Friday’s attack. The incident remains under investigation.
The besieged of León has been the subject of controversy after a leaked audio was shown himself, former council president Nury Martinez, outgoing councilman Gil Cedillo and a union leader participating in a closed-door city council meeting that included racist language. Martínez resigned amid outrage, and Cedillo lost his re-election bid in June.
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Los Angeles Councilmember Kevin de Leon, left, and then-Los Angeles City Council Speaker Nury Martinez talk at a city council meeting on Oct. 4.
(Irfan Khan/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)
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Earlier on Friday, de León had attended his first city council meeting in nearly two months since the scandal began. He has refused to resign his position.
Three council members walked out of the meeting after De León showed up unannounced.
