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Protestors kept out of LA City Council meeting as chamber reaches full capacity

LA City Council holds meeting as protestors are kept outside
LA City Council holds meeting as protestors are kept outside 02:15

A group of outraged protestors were kept from entering Los Angeles City Hall for Friday's City Council meeting, as chambers had already reached full capacity before they could make their way in. 

In recent days, several council meetings have been disrupted by demonstrators looking for the resignation of embattled City Councilmen Kevin de Leon and Gil Cedillo, two of the members involved in a racially-charged scandal. 

On Friday, anticipating another round of making their voices heard, those protestors were instead forced to remain outside during the meeting, something they believe isn't entirely coincidence. 

"This is an obvious attempt by Paul Krekorian to shut out the people," said Jason Reedy, a protestor. "He's tired of hearing about it. He's ready to move on with business as usual."

Instead, they could be seen on the streets outside of City Hall, chanting "Who's Street? Our Street!"

Dozens of Los Angeles Department of Water and Power workers were lined up outside of council chambers at around 8 a.m., as important issues like salary and contract changes were reportedly on the docket for Friday's meeting. All of them were allowed in, keeping many protestors from taking a seat. 

According Ashley Elias, one of the many demonstrators, they arrived at 8:30 a.m., and were told that the chambers were already full. 

"There was no other information other than the chambers were already full," she said. 

Without protestors in the crowd, Councilmembers were able to conduct business as usual, without Cedillo and de León in attendance. 

They passed a motion to form a committee on reform related to redistricting, a process also placed under scrutiny due to the leaked audio. 

Additionally, they passed another motion, targeted towards suspended Councilman Mark Ridley-Thomas, tasking the LA City Attorney with looking into whether they can suspend his pay as well. 

"Justice delayed should not be justice denied for Councilmember Ridley-Thomas," said Councilman Curren Price. 

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