Following the death of a second black man in the West Hollywood apartment of wealthy Democratic donor Ed Buck, 43 LGBTQ and allied organizations have signed a letter demanding an investigation by the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department and the District Attorney’s Office.
The signers of the letter include major national LGBTQ organizations like the Human Rights Campaign (HRC), PFLAG National, the National LGBTQ Task Force, Athlete Ally, the National Center for Lesbian Rights and BiNet USA as well as allied groups like the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU).
The letter says, “Nearly a dozen young men have confirmed Moore’s account and shared personal stories about Buck’s alleged, nefarious practice of injecting Black men with various lethal substances.”
It also cites an LA Times report saying that police found the following items at Buck’s apartment: “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.’”
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Related: Protestors call for powerful Democratic donor’s arrest after second man dies inside his home
The letter continues, “We demand [an investigation of Ed Buck and into the slow, non-transparent investigations into Buck previously conducted by the Sheriff’s Department and DA’s office] with a historical understanding that if Buck were a Black man living in Watts, Inglewood, Compton, or South Los Angeles or his victims were white men, the investigation and outcome would be different.”
The second dead man has been identified as 55-year-old Timothy Dean, an aspiring fashion designer who once won a gold medal for basketball at the 2002 Gay Games in Sydney, Australia. From 2007 to 2016, Dean performed in a gay adult videos under the name “Hole Hunter,” including in scenes entitled “Dark Chocolate Cravings 2” and “Interracial Public Pickups 3.”
Dean’s death by drug overdose follows the similar July 2017 death of 26-year-old Gemmel Moore in Buck’s apartment. Buck himself has not been arrested. His lawyer claims that the deceased men were already overdosing when they arrived at Buck’s apartment.
A protest commenced outside of Buck’s home earlier this week, with protestors chanting “Arrest him now” and “Black lives matter.” An opinion column in the West Hollywood publication WEHOville, has asked politicians to return any donations from Buck.
U.S. Rep. Ted Lieu of California has done so, donating $2,500 to the Equality California Institute, $3,000 each to GLAAD and the Trevor Project and $5,000 to Lambda Legal and the NAACP.
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How many of these dozen men have shown up at the Sherrif’s sub-station in WeHo or the LACDA’s office? They can only move if they have evidence that ties drugs and/or paraphernalia to Buck, being in a common room of his residence isn’t enough, nor should it be, even in Inglewood.
Railroading one white gay, might be a drugie, no matter how much he has donated, isn’t going to even move the needle of law enforcement reform.