A leaked discussion that caused a racial outcry at city hall is being investigated by LAPD.

According to LAPD Chief Michel Moore, the Major Crimes Division of the Los Angeles Police Department has launched an inquiry into the discussion that was leaked and caused the City Hall racism crisis to see if it was unlawfully taped.

During a Tuesday media availability, Moore stated: “The department has launched a criminal investigation into an allegation of eavesdropping relative to the (Los Angeles County Federation of Labor) meeting involving then-Councilperson Nury Martinez, Council members Gil Cedillo and Kevin de León, and the Fed President, Mr. (Ron) Herrera.” “Our Major Crimes Division is investigating that, and when the investigation is through, we will provide the findings to the proper prosecuting agency.”

It is still unknown who recorded the racist conversation that took place at the L.A. County Federation of Labor offices a year ago, and who leaked it about two weeks ago. This set off a chain of events that resulted in Martinez resigning as City Council president and later the council altogether, as well as de León and Cedillo facing constant calls for resignation.

Nearly all of their council colleagues, Mayor Eric Garcetti, and even President Joe Biden have called for action.

Shortly after the discussion was leaked and made public, Herrera resigned as the president of the L.A. County Federation of Labor.

City News Service was unable to quickly confirm who made the tip that sparked the LAPD investigation.

The Los Angeles Fed claimed earlier this month that there had been “a severe security and privacy breach” at its headquarters in an email addressed to some of its union affiliates, which the Los Angeles Times had first seen. The group was “successful in getting the posts withdrawn and the unnamed user suspended,” the federation added, despite the fact that the “illegal recordings” were released online.

According to the email, the federation is looking into the leak’s origin and would “see that these offences are pursued to the full extent of the law.”

California is a “two-party consent” state, which means that everyone involved in a communication — not just the two of them — must agree for the chat to be recorded. Penalties for violators might include both civil and criminal ones.

De León has rejected demands for him to resign, while Cedillo’s spokesperson has repeatedly claimed the councillor is “in a place of contemplation” despite the fact that Cedillo has lost his attempt for reelection and only has a few weeks left on the council.

The talk was about the politically delicate process of redistricting council districts when Martinez and de León both made racially insensitive statements.

Prior to being taken down from the social news aggregation, content review, and debate platform, the conversation initially surfaced on Reddit.

Among other things, Martinez belittled Councilman Mike Bonin, a white man with a Black son, and criticized the boy for acting inappropriately at a Martin Luther King Day parade, claiming that if she and the other women on the float hadn’t intervened to “parent this kid,” the float might have toppled.

Martinez claimed, “They’re rearing him like a little white kid.” “I thought, ‘This child deserves a beating. Let me bring him back when I take him around the corner.

Martinez also referred to the toddler as “that tiny monkey,” or “este changuito,” in Spanish.

De León blasted Bonin as well, claiming that he “won’t f—ing ever speak anything about Latinos.” He will never say anything negative about us.

Bonin’s treatment of his son during the MLK Parade was similarly contrasted by De León to “when Nury brings her tiny yard bag or the Louis Vuitton bag.”

Martinez continued, using a Spanish pronoun for a Black person that many people find derogatory: “Su negrito, like on the side.”

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