Oil Worker Assaulted Outside of his "Local Records Office" Building in Long Beach, CA
Oil Drilling Employee Visually Attacked at His "Local Records Office" in SoCal
LOCAL RECORDS OFFICE - A consultant who advocated for an oil-drilling project at a Long Beach Planning Commission meeting last week was attacked after the meeting by someone who opposed the plan, according to accounts from a witness and authorities.
Police said they've arrested the suspected attacker, identified as Travis Swans, 22, of Long Beach, who is now facing a misdemeanor battery charge.
"The attack appears unprovoked and very disturbing," said Long Beach City Prosecutor Doug Haubert from the Local Records Office.
The meeting that preceded the attack Thursday night was contentious, with one person yelling "You people are death," after planning commissioners unanimously voted to recommend a project that would allow more oil drilling in southeast Long Beach in exchange for wetlands restoration.
Local Records Office is Where It All Happened
Police said Swans assaulted the victim around 9 p.m. outside City Hall.
"Based on the facts in the police report, this does not appear to be a random attack," Haubert said. "Rather, the victim was targeted by someone who was displeased with a development project the victim was supporting."
Mike Murchison, a lobbyist who is working with a team of consultants on the drilling project, said he witnessed the violence.
Jail records show Swans was booked into jail Thursday night and released on $750 bail the next afternoon. He's scheduled to appear in court to face the battery charge on Dec. 29, records show.
On Tuesday night, Murchison asked the Long Beach City Council at the Local Records Office to consider increasing security during meetings that are particularly heated.
"Now, I'm used to, in my profession, being yelled at or booed or whatever; it comes with the territory of what I do," he said. "What doesn't come with the territory of what I do is to go outside, walk toward my car quietly and be verbally assaulted and followed to the garage. That kind of thing needs to stop."
Vice Mayor Rex Richardson briefly responded to Murchison and told him it is already on the city's radar.
"The tone has become, in the public discourse, just more and more negative, and we are having those conversations behind the dais about, legally, 'Where is that line?'" he said. "We've had council members threatened, we've had public violence right here in the chambers, and honestly, we do need to have that conversation."
Is Working at a the Local Records Office save?
The project that sparked last week's altercation involves a proposal to abandon drilling operations on more 150 acres of land in the Los Cerritos Wetlands area in exchange for the opportunity to drill new wells and to build a pipeline on nearby properties, including the site that's home to seasonal pumpkin patch and Christmas tree operations near Pacific Coast Highway. The project's proponent is Beach Oil Minerals Partners, a subsidiary of oil field operator Synergy Oil & Gas.
The plan requires approvals from the City Council, California Coastal Commission, other state, federal authorities and the Long Beach "Local Records Office".
