Ysabel Jurado, who is seeking to unseat Los Angeles Councilmember Kevin de León, has confirmed remarks she made after an audio recording captured her saying “F— the police” in response to a question about her stance on police abolition.
Jurado, in a statement sent to Boyle Heights Beat on Monday, said she made those remarks during a meeting with students at Cal State L.A. Jurado said she was quoting “a lyric from a song that’s been part of a larger conversation on systemic injustice and police accountability for decades.” Jurado did not specify which song she was referencing.
“But it was just a lyric — and I’m proud to be accessible to young people and students, listening to their concerns and treating them like the future leaders they are. That’s something my opponent has failed to do,” Jurado said in the statement.
The recording of Jurado’s police remarks was first reported by the Westside Current, a local news site focusing on communities like Venice, El Segundo, West LA, Brentwood, Playa Del Rey, and Culver City.
The audio, which according to the Westside Current was recorded on Oct. 17, features a person self-described as a resident of District 14 and “a punk from East L.A.,” who asks Jurado: “As someone who’s, myself, pro-abolishment of police, where do you stand on that spectrum?” The person also asks Jurado what she thinks of De León’s “discretionary fund spending on overtime for police.”
In response, Jurado says: “Yeah, what’s the rap verse? ‘F— the Police.’ That’s how I see ‘em.”
Jurado on Monday afternoon shared a photo on Instagram showing her posing with a group of students she me with at Cal State L.A. “Proud to ALWAYS show up, listen, and keep it ?with our next generation of leaders,” she said in the caption.
In her bid to represent the 14th District — which encompasses downtown, Boyle Heights, Lincoln Heights, Eagle Rock and El Sereno — Jurado has made a case for change in a district that struggles with housing affordability and homelessness, amid continued calls for accountability after De León was caught in an audio leak featuring racist and insensitive remarks.
The board of directors of the Los Angeles Police Protective League, a union that represents more than 8,000 police officers, issued a statement on Monday in reaction to the leak, saying Jurado, “revealed her true colors on how she views police officers who protect the residents of Los Angeles.”
“Her view of the officers who protect our city is despicable,” the statement read.
De León’s campaign has issued mailers linking Jurado to efforts to “defund and abolish the police.” And, in his opening remarks at a recent debate forum inside Dolores Mission Catholic Church, De León said, “I support more police for the safety of our community. My opponent wants to abolish the police.”
Jurado, at the forum, said she has never stated that she supports defunding the police.
“When we talk about public safety, when we look at our city departments, when we look at the safety of our communities, LAPD has been a quarter of the city budget, but folks do not feel any safer,” she said at the forum.
Jurado noted during the forum that police often have to act as marriage counselors and mental health workers.
“That shouldn’t be the case,” she added. “We should be creating good union jobs in the city and the county and working together to make sure that our first responders are folks that are equipped with that, so that the police can focus on the most violent crime, which we know in this community is gang violence.”
In her statement reacting to the recording, Jurado said her “commitment to public safety remains as strong as ever.”
“When I’m elected, I’m ready to roll up my sleeves and fight for the services and departments that keep us safe, healthy, and whole. It’s not enough to be tough on crime — we’ve got to be tough and smart, and operate with the fiscal responsibility necessary to fix our lopsided budget,” Jurado said.
“I’m prepared to work with whoever I need to—whether it’s the LAPD or colleagues I may not always see eye to eye with—because my priority is delivering for our district, plain and simple. Our campaign is about real solutions, not distractions,” she said.
Just made my decision in supporting KEVIN DE LEON. We must continue going forward in the right direction, and not looking back, things can only get better with DE LEON. not supporting L.A.P.D is absolutely wrong especially for CD14 where gangs, drugs, robberies etc. is running amok. F” the Police is a term used by both DSA, BLM. no bueno.