Santa Monica City Councilmember Oscar de la Torre made anti-Semitic statements in 2019 when he was a member of the Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District, perpetuating long-standing antisemitic tropes in his claim that the school district was “controlled by Jews.” These remarks have been brought forth in recent public letters from school board members Jon Kean and then-president Dr. Richard Amir Tahvildaran-Jesswein.

Councilmember de la Torre’s remarks hurt members of the Jewish community and led to the resignation of a consultant who was hired to help Santa Monica's schools. They are also not an isolated instance. In 2012, de la Torre demonized a different city consultant hired to help stabilize his struggling nonprofit, The Pico Youth and Family Center, claiming she “did not like the Malcolm X portrait on the wall because Malcolm was Muslim and she was Jewish.”

Rather than admit his past mistakes, apologize, and commit to making amends with the communities he has hurt, Councilmember de la Torre continues to dodge the truth and disassemble, maintaining that the written statements of three different respected local community leaders are lies invented to damage him politically.

In light of Councilmember de la Torre’s hateful statements, and his refusal to take responsibility for his words and actions, we, the undersigned, call for Councilmember de la Torre to resign immediately from the Santa Monica City Council and to apologize to those who he has hurt.