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- McCarty was caught on a hot mic discussing removing people from council meetings.
- Council cleared the room and later approved the agreement with the intelligence center.
- Talamantes cited the Brown Act and the City’s Council Rules to defend decorum.
Mayor Kevin McCarty and Vice Mayor Karina Talamantes were caught on the hot mic Tuesday discussing how to go about removing certain people from City Council meetings after several straight weeks of disrupted proceedings.
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The two did not seem to be aware that McCarty’s microphone was live during a recess prompted by audience disruption. Several public commenters who opposed an agreement between the city and a federal intelligence center heckled and booed Talamantes and representatives from the Sacramento Police Department before McCarty ultimately told the city clerk to “shut it down.”
The public cleared the room and was let back in after the council completed the vote (approving the agreement 5-2). As people filed back in, Talamantes approached McCarty and had the following conversation:
“We should go over this disruptions thing, because if we want to ban somebody in the future, like to take them out, we have to point out specifically…”
“I know, but the City Attorney said we can’t do that,” McCarty replied.
Talamantes says something unintelligible, followed by “we did it last time.”
“I spent my first six months going over this. I wanted to give people, like, probation, like you can’t come…” McCarty said before Talamantes lunged to turn the mic off.
The agitators were upset about an agreement between the city and the Central California Intelligence Center, a federally-funded hub where local and state agencies share intelligence with agencies, including Immigrations and Customs Enforcement. While Sacramento Police ensured the City Council that personal data would not be used for federal immigration purposes, opponents of the agreement doubted that the center would adhere to sanctuary city policies.
Maintaining decorum
In an emailed statement to The Bee, Talamantes wrote that the council needs to do a better job maintaining decorum in the council chambers, and cited rules in the Brown Act and the City’s Council Rules of Procedures.
“My goal is to ensure everyone gets the opportunity to address the Mayor and Council in a productive way,” she said.
She also condemned members of the public who said that she and her family should be afraid to leave the house: “Threatening members of the community and elected official’s family members is unacceptable in the democracy we are fighting for.”
McCarty declined The Bee’s request for an interview but issued a statement.
“Following repeated audience disruptions that interfered with the Council’s ability to conduct its business, Vice Mayor Talamantes and I discussed existing policies and rules to ensure Council meetings remain effective, orderly, and respectful for both the residents in attendance and the Councilmembers,” he wrote.
Targets of the conversation
Resident Leanna Hunt said she was the likely target of this conversation. Hunt has been the loudest of the routine disruptors. She’s not shy on or off the podium — routinely cursing McCarty specifically and shaming others behind the dais.
“You don’t deserve a f—— thing that you get, you Goddamn criminal,” she shouted at McCarty as he left the dais amid a musical disruption at a council meeting June 9. “McCarty I’m f—— talking to you. Kevin! Shame on you, you f—— criminal.”
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She said that her repeated outbursts, which come after years of trying “the peaceful way,” are less of a political strategy and more a result of exasperation.
“I’m fed up,” she said. “It’s not even a tactic — I’m just tired of being treated like we are an audience and that the king is deigning to see us peasants today and when the peasants are unruly, the king gets upset.”
Joshua Masias, a volunteer organizer with the Sac Immigration Committee, was also particularly outspoken at Tuesday’s meeting and suspected that he may have been another focal point of the conversation between McCarty and Talamantes.
“It’s very authoritative how she wants to use her power,” Masias said. “It stuck out to me that she was the only one to try to silence the crowd.”
Repeated outbursts
This is the third meeting in two months in which several activists have violated the Council’s general conduct rules outlined in its rules of procedure. The document bars conduct that “disturbs the orderly conduct of the council meeting,” including interjecting when not at the podium and refusing to heed the presiding officer’s call for order.
When passing the final version of its budget, an impromptu choir broke out singing anti-immigration enforcement song “It’s OK to Change Your Mind,“ advocating for cuts to the Sacramento Police Department in favor of funding youth violence intervention, a community ambassador program, homelessness services and fee waivers for underserved residents.
To the tune of the acapella protest, McCarty and the rest of the council walked out for a forced 10-minute recess, after which they approved the budget 7-2.
Two weeks later, as the Council considered passing a new immigration action plan, it halted the meeting due to continued outbursts from anti-ICE activists who were protesting the document, which one resident described as “nothing more than political theater.”
During public comment the group booed a resident who expressed support for the plan as it was, prompting admonishment from Talamantes.
“It’s one thing for you to disrespect us as mayor and council, but another to disrespect another resident,” she said.
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This story was originally published July 22, 2026 at 3:26 PM.