Second Black Man Found Dead in Major Democratic Contributor’s Home

By Ayana Byrd Jan 08, 2019

Yesterday (January 7), an unidentified Black man was found dead in the Los Angeles home of prominent Democratic fundraiser Ed Buck. It is the second time a Black man has died in his home.

The man was discovered not long after midnight in Buck’s West Hollywood apartment after someone called 911, reports NBC News. The cause of death is still unknown.

According to The Advocate:

rnt

Buck, a White man in his 60s, was investigated previously by authorities after the death of Gemmel Moore, who died of a methamphetamine overdose in Buck’s home in July 2017. Since Moore’s death was classified as an accidental overdose, numerous young Black gay men have alleged that Buck has a fetish for shooting drugs into Black men he picks up off the street or on hookup sites. Moore had written [in his jounal] about Buck injecting him with dangerous drugs before his death.


Moore, whose body was found unclothed on a mattress with drug paraphernalia nearby, worked as an escort, reports the Los Angeles Times.

Per The Advocate:

rnt

Buck’s attorney, Seymour Amster, characterized the death today as an accidental overdose and said Buck is cooperating with investigators. “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.”


The Advocate reports that community activists, including Jasmyne Cannick, have accused Los Angeles officials of not prosecuting Buck for the 2017 incident because he has made sizable donations to prominent politicians such as Hillary Clinton, former California Governor Jerry Brown and Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti. Federal election records show that Buck has donated more than $53,000 to Democratic candidates and to the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee since 2008, according to NBC News. He is also an advocate for LGBTQ rights and well-known in LGBTQ political circles.

rn

 

The investigation of the latest death is still underway and the Los Angeles LGBT Center issued a statement asking the Sheriff’s Department to “fully investigate this tragedy and aggressively seek justice wherever the investigation might lead.”