Reis Thebault
December 11, 2022

LOS ANGELES — It was one month before a momentous mayoral election here and the nation’s second-largest city was in disarray.

A now-infamous audio recording had just surfaced, capturing four of the most powerful Latino leaders in Los Angeles in a conversation that disparaged several other racial and ethnic groups that call this diverse city home. Demands for resignations and reforms rained down from the White House, the state Capitol and L.A. City Hall.