Councilmember Kevin de León showed up in the Los Angeles City Council chambers on Friday morning, appearing briefly at a council meeting for the first time since fallout from a racist leaked audio tape roiled the city in mid-October.
The question of when — or if — De León would return had loomed large at City Hall for nearly two months. His name was frequently invoked even as his seat remained empty, with protesters regularly interrupting the thrice-weekly meetings to demand his resignation.
De León, who apologized in the wake of the tape, has been adamant that he has no plans to resign. He began to quietly reenter the public sphere about a month ago, attending food giveaways, holiday meals and other community events but remained absent in council chambers until Friday morning.
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