Over 30,000 people have reportedly signed a petition urging Los Angeles District Attorney Jackie Lacey to investigate Ed Buck, the high-profile Democratic Party donor involved in the deaths of two black men: 26-year-old Gemmel Moore in July 2017 and 55-year-old Timothy Dean last January.
The petition, promoted in part by the racial justice group Color of Change, reads:
The tragic and demeaning deaths of both Gemmel and Timothy has not persuaded District Attorney Lacey to prosecute Ed Buck….
No other Black men should have to die before the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department and District Attorney take action.
Ed Buck has created a system of abusing the vulnerability and poverty of black men, many of whom have been described as being HIV-positive and who were not addicted to drugs until coming into contact with him.
The petition urges Lacey to investigate and prosecute Buck, stating he “clearly poses a threat to the safety of Black gay men in Los Angeles County and beyond.”
The petitions are to be delivered to Lacey’s office at 11 a.m. PST today. Moore’s mother LaTisha Nixon is expected to fly in from Texas to attend.
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Related: “He’s the f*cking devil”: Chilling new details emerge in Ed Buck case
During their 2017 investigation into Moore’s death, police examined Buck’s West Hollywood apartment and found “clear plastic bags with suspected methamphetamine in a tool box roll-cabinet in the living room,” 24 syringes with brown residue, five glass pipes with white residue and burn marks, a plastic straw with possible white residue, clear plastic bags with white powdery residue, and a clear plastic bag with a “piece of crystal-like substance.”
The L.A. County District Attorney ultimately declined to file any charges against Buck, citing “insufficient evidence.” The deaths so far are being treated as accidental self-inflicted drug overdoses.
After Dean’s death, activists began holding protests outside of Buck’s apartment and urging Democratic candidates to return any donations Buck made to them.
A 2017 documentary, ParTy Boi, examined Buck’s alleged role in Moore’s death.
Vince
Pulease. No way they got 30,000 signatures.
These idiots would do allot more good if they talked about the dangers of meth use instead of this idiotic race bait bs. Of course that gets the headlines instead of just junkies killing themselves.
QueerTruth
Why is that hard to believe? It’s been a huge story in LA for weeks.
PeteP
Can you fix the headline? It’s 30,000, not 300,000.
@HarryB
I dont really understand why investigations in case of death need to be supported by petitioners. Really why?
Jared MacBride
Ed Buck seems to be a very well connected and protected man.
Chrisk
If he forced them to do the drugs then yes he would be criminally liable.
The last dude came over about 3 or 4 in the morning so most likely yes he was already high. This Gremal Moore dude was going out on the street on his own and injecting strangers and filming it. Somebody needs to tell me who the victim is in this case. All I see is tweakers doing what they do.
DHT
Without a doubt he is indeed. The Mayor of West Hollywood John, Duran, who is dealing with his own sexual indiscretions, was his attorney for decades.
Invader7
@Vince @ ChrisK: Do you two dudes even have a soul or a heart? Your cold,callous attitude towards fellow human beings is as deplorable as what Ed Buck did to his 2 MURDER victims. Yes, the men MAY have had substance use/abuse problems. But to casually brush off the DEATHS of two people is creepy and sad.So what if the victims were using. They’re DEAD. I bet if this was either of you, you’d want ALL of the support & help from as many people as you could muster. But NO. You 2 self-anointed /self-appointed , holier-than-thou types brush off 2 dead gay men as collateral damage in your superficial, UNCARING, mean spirited denigration of their loss. And in a round about way don’t even question the motives or behaviors of Ed Buck. Do you two know &/or work for him / are you 2 being paid by him to defend him on this site? I wonder…..And I wonder why DA Lacey says there was “insufficient evidence ? How much $$$ has Ed Buck contributed to Ms.Lacey’s political campaigns over the years? I bet it’s a LOT. He’s bought her off, if that’s the situation. Tim to start a Grand Jury investigation !!
PinkoOfTheGange
Their deaths are the direct cause of their substance abuse, full stop. If Buck had any direct effect on their death then he should be prosecuted to the full extent of the law.
The first investigation found no culpability, even with the litany of drug paraphernalia found.
Political contributions are public records go find out if Buck contributed.
DHT
These are the two dead ones that we know of…I have a hunch his dealer is no longer helping him dispose of the bodies. And have you wondered; how many guys did he actually shoot up besides the two of them actually died?
PinkoOfTheGange
So how are Buck’s political contributions relevant?
What are you trying to get us to infer from this statement just hanging out there?
Honestly it seems like you are trying to discredit the party based on things that happen around one guy that are, so far, mere, albeit tragic, coincidence.
PoetDaddy
It is unbelievable to me, from the safe distance of 3000 miles, that there is not a full-scale investigation of anyone who hosted the suspicious deaths of two people at two different times. Investigate, for fu*k’s sake. If he’s innocent, he’s innocent. If there isn’t enough evidence to prosecute, then say that. But it’s not a coincidence, is it?
DHT
Bruce McArthur killed gay men for over a decade in Toronto. Note that he was only discovered after he killed a white guy.
DCguy
Wow, so Queerty is following the lead of FOX News and calling the guy a major Democratic donor instead of using ANY other description.
The guy cut a few checks, years ago, he didn’t work for anybody etc…
DHT
Actually the article calls him “the high-profile Democratic Party donor”, which he is. According to the New York Times though he has as an individual given well over $100,000.00 to Democratic candidates, so according to most philanthropic sources that that would make him a “major” donor as well. It’s nice to see though that most of the recipients have subsequently given the money away to education initiatives for young black men.
surreal33
1. If he was poor and white he would be arrested.
2. If person of color he would been arrested, tried, and convicted after the first
dead body.
3. If the victims had blond hair and blue eyes he would been arrested.
Polaro
Seems fishy, but I do hate arm chair quarterbacks making decisions with only the facts in a Queerty article. Adults make their own choices, many of them are bad.