VeryBecoming
Devil's Avocado
On early Monday morning, a deceased black man was reportedly found in the West Hollywood home of Ed Buck, a prominent Democratic donor who came under investigation a year and a half ago when another black man, Gemmel Moore, died in his apartment. Prosecutors declined to charge Buck in the first death after the Los Angeles County district attorney’s office found insufficient evidence against him.
What do we know happened?
According to the Los Angeles Times, a man died in Buck’s apartment on Laurel Avenue sometime between midnight and 2 a.m. Paramedics attempted CPR on him, but he died on the scene. The man has not been named, but a law enforcement source described him to the Times and KTLAas a black man in his 50s. Per Buck’s attorney Seymour Amster, the man was a friend of the Democratic donor.
“From what I know, it was an old friend who died of an accidental overdose, and, unfortunately, we believe that the substance was ingested at some place other than the apartment,” Amster told the Los Angeles Times. “The person came over intoxicated.”
Though the official cause of death has not yet been reported, Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Lieutenant Derrick Alfred admitted to KTLA that the resemblance this case bore to the first incident of a man dying in Buck’s apartment was eerie.
“It is suspicious that this has happened twice now,” Alfred said. Buck, however, is not currently in custody, nor is he considered a suspect.
Who is Ed Buck?
Buck, 65, is a major political donor who gave $23,600 to various California races and causes through June 2018, per campaign-finance records. Most famously, he led a campaign to impeach Arizona Republican governor Evan Mecham in 1987.
What happened with the case involving Gemmel Moore?
In July 2017, Gemmel Moore, a 26-year-old black man who worked as an escort, was found dead in Buck’s apartment from an accidental methamphetamine overdose, per a coroner’s report. At the time, Amster argued that Buck had nothing to do with the death, even though his apartment was reportedly covered in drug paraphernalia.
But a notebook found in Moore’s possessions suggests otherwise. According to the Times, which reviewed the journal, Moore wrote about using crystal methamphetamine, saying that “Ed Buck is the one to thank.”
“He gave me my first injection of chrystal [sic] meth,” the entry read.
Activists in the area say Buck has a history of preying on young black man and pressuring them into partaking in dangerous drug use.
How has the public responded?
On Monday evening, more than 100 people gathered outside of Buck’s West Hollywood to demand justice for Moore and the second man, as well as Buck’s arrest. There, Cannick proclaimed that the district attorney’s office and sheriff’s office “have blood on their hands” for failing to hold Buck accountable.
“This was preventable,” she said. “We knew he hadn’t stopped, that it was only a matter of time before this happened again. And now it’s only a matter of time before it happens a third time if he’s not stopped."
Full story.
What do we know happened?
According to the Los Angeles Times, a man died in Buck’s apartment on Laurel Avenue sometime between midnight and 2 a.m. Paramedics attempted CPR on him, but he died on the scene. The man has not been named, but a law enforcement source described him to the Times and KTLAas a black man in his 50s. Per Buck’s attorney Seymour Amster, the man was a friend of the Democratic donor.
“From what I know, it was an old friend who died of an accidental overdose, and, unfortunately, we believe that the substance was ingested at some place other than the apartment,” Amster told the Los Angeles Times. “The person came over intoxicated.”
Though the official cause of death has not yet been reported, Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Lieutenant Derrick Alfred admitted to KTLA that the resemblance this case bore to the first incident of a man dying in Buck’s apartment was eerie.
“It is suspicious that this has happened twice now,” Alfred said. Buck, however, is not currently in custody, nor is he considered a suspect.
Who is Ed Buck?
Buck, 65, is a major political donor who gave $23,600 to various California races and causes through June 2018, per campaign-finance records. Most famously, he led a campaign to impeach Arizona Republican governor Evan Mecham in 1987.
What happened with the case involving Gemmel Moore?
In July 2017, Gemmel Moore, a 26-year-old black man who worked as an escort, was found dead in Buck’s apartment from an accidental methamphetamine overdose, per a coroner’s report. At the time, Amster argued that Buck had nothing to do with the death, even though his apartment was reportedly covered in drug paraphernalia.
But a notebook found in Moore’s possessions suggests otherwise. According to the Times, which reviewed the journal, Moore wrote about using crystal methamphetamine, saying that “Ed Buck is the one to thank.”
“He gave me my first injection of chrystal [sic] meth,” the entry read.
Activists in the area say Buck has a history of preying on young black man and pressuring them into partaking in dangerous drug use.
How has the public responded?
On Monday evening, more than 100 people gathered outside of Buck’s West Hollywood to demand justice for Moore and the second man, as well as Buck’s arrest. There, Cannick proclaimed that the district attorney’s office and sheriff’s office “have blood on their hands” for failing to hold Buck accountable.
“This was preventable,” she said. “We knew he hadn’t stopped, that it was only a matter of time before this happened again. And now it’s only a matter of time before it happens a third time if he’s not stopped."
Full story.