In December 2019, I called Chief Thomas Mattmuller with a question for a column related to the lawsuit: Should Black motorists fear driving through Venice? He said, no, of course not, and then politely hung up, if there is a polite way to do such a thing.
And that is where a man named John Patten came in.
Patten was well known over the years among those in Venice government. He wrote for a local website, focusing on the inner workings of City Hall, and was seen by many as an antagonist. Listing the late gonzo journalist Hunter S. Thompson as a personal hero, he apparently had many enemies. Mattmuller considered him a friend.