LOS ANGELES — Los Angeles City Councilman Kevin de León and activists on Friday night, Dec. 9, exchanged assault allegations related to the embattled councilman’s appearance at a Christmas tree lighting in Lincoln Heights.
De León’s communications director Pete Brown told KCAL9 the councilman was on stage at Lincoln Park about 6:30 p.m. when a group of five to six people approached him. The group rushed de León as he tried to leave the stage with a woman and her infant, Brown said.
One of the people in the group headbutted de León, which caused an altercation between the two men, the station reported.
De León released a statement saying “a staff member, volunteer, and I were violently and physically assaulted by self-proclaimed activists at a community holiday event to the dismay of a multitude of families and children who were there to celebrate a Christmas tree lighting and to receive toys and food.
“The escalating rhetoric is hitting a fever pitch, transcending from verbal threats into actual acts of violence and must end before more serious harm or loss of life occurs,” the statement said. “Violence is not free speech and has no place in politics or democracy.”
J-Town Action & Solidarity, which bills itself as “a grassroots collective building community power in Little Tokyo,” and the progressive group Roots Action accused de León of assaulting local organizer Jason Reedy. The organizations shared a 10-second video on Twitter of de León holding onto Reedy, then pulling him down to a table.
De León then pulled Reedy away from the table and toward a wall when the video ends.
The Los Angeles Police Department told KCAL9 they responded to the location of the event after receiving a report of a “large group fight.” Authorities told KCAL9 that when officers arrived there was a man receiving treatment from paramedics for “body pain.”
The LAPD did not release the names of the people involved and have not taken anyone into custody.
The Lincoln Park appearance came hours after de León attended a council meeting for the first time since Oct. 11. His appearance was brief as protesters immediately shouted for him to leave, and he was no longer present following a recess of about 45 minutes.
De León has defied widespread calls to resign over his participation in a racist 2021 conversation with Council members Gil Cedillo and Nury Martinez and a top county labor official that was leaked in October. He is also facing a recall effort that is in the process of gathering signatures.
Protesters have regularly shown up at meetings demanding that de León and Cedillo resign before the city conducts its business.
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