Crime
Activists Urging Lacey to ‘Do Her Job’ in Second Ed Buck Death
Los Angeles Sentinel — Local activists are urging District Attorney Jackie Lacey to “do her job” and find that the evidence presented to Los Angeles Sheriff’s is probable cause to immediately charge and prosecute Ed Buck in spite of his “Whiteness, wealth, and her political ambitions,” in the death of Timothy Dean, the second man to die at Buck’s residence.
Local activists are urging District Attorney Jackie Lacey to “do her job” and find that the evidence presented to Los Angeles Sheriff’s is probable cause to immediately charge and prosecute Ed Buck in spite of his “Whiteness, wealth, and her political ambitions,” in the death of Timothy Dean, the second man to die at Buck’s residence.
“We’ve done all that we could do to aid the sheriff’s investigators with their investigation,” said community activist and advocate, Jasmyne Cannick.
“Once again, we gathered evidence and brought the sheriff’s other young men who could speak directly to their experiences with Ed Buck. I hope that this time around, the political will and prosecutorial creativity that we’ve seen used so often against Black people is used to bring charges against Ed Buck for the deaths of Gemmel Moore and Timothy Dean. Two men have died on the same mattress, in the same living room, of the same drug, at the same man’s house within months of each other …”
Dean, 55, died in Buck’s home of a methamphetamine overdose, according to the L.A. County Coroner, just months after Gemmel Moore, 26, died of the same cause. The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department announced that Dean’s death was accidental. Moore’s death was also deemed accidental.
But activists say nothing about either death was an accident. In fact, they said, Buck targeted, recruited and enticed at least Moore, for sexual acts. In his journal, Moore wrote, “I honestly don’t know what to do. I’ve become addicted to drugs and the worst one at that,” a December entry reads. “Ed Buck is the one to thank. He gave me my first injection of crystal meth; it was very painful, but after all the troubles, I became addicted to the pain and fetish/fantasy.”
Meanwhile, Dean’s roommate came forward to say that he never saw Dean use drugs, though Buck’s attorney has maintained the man was high before even reaching Buck’s residence.
“I lived with him, and he never did drugs. I’ve never seen him on drugs, ever,” he told KTLA.
Buck, who is in his sixties and is gay, is a regular campaign donor to the Democratic party. According to an L.A. Times report, Buck waited 15 minutes before calling 911 for Dean. Moore’s family has accused Buck of injecting him with meth and forcing him to watch “hardcore gay male pornography which played loudly on a large flat-screen television set while engaging in sex acts.”
“My life is at an all-time [sic] high right now & I mean that from all ways. I ended up back at Buck [sic] house again and got manipulated [sic] into slamming again,” reads another entry from Moore’s journal.
“I even went to the point where I was forced to doing four within a two-day [sic] period. This man is crazy and it’s [sic] sad. Will I ever get help?”
Attorney Nana Gyamfi says, “Los Angeles County District Attorney has a duty to charge and prosecute Ed Buck for the murders of Gemmel Moore and Timothy Dean and for all the crimes he committed against the Black gay men he targeted for torture and harm, for his pleasure and amusement.”
Moore family co-counsel Hussain Turk added, “The district attorneys overseeing the Ed Buck investigation have sat idly for almost two years, while evidence brought to them by eyewitnesses continues to spoil. From the moment Gemmel Moore’s body was found in Ed Buck’s drug infested apartment, there was enough evidence to file charges. From the moment Timothy Dean’s body was found on the same mattress, in the same room, dead from having ingested the same substance as Gemmel Moore, there was enough evidence to file charges. This is not about having sufficient evidence; this is about a widespread administrative failure to treat evidence with the care and attention it deserves because the victims are Black gay men and the suspect is a rich White benefactor of the Democratic party.”
On Saturday, July 27, family and friends of Moore will gather in front of Buck’s West Hollywood apartment to mark the two-year anniversary of his death. The event is free and open to the public. For more information, visit rememberinggemmelmoore.eventbrite.com and justice4gemmel.org.
This article originally appeared in The Los Angeles Sentinel.
Activism
Oakland Post: Week of April 24 – 30, 2024
The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of April 24 – 30, 2024
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Alameda County
DA Pamela Price Stands by Mom Who Lost Son to Gun Violence in Oakland
Last week, The Post published a photo showing Alameda County District Attorney Pamela Price with Carol Jones, whose son, Patrick DeMarco Scott, was gunned down by an unknown assailant in 2018.
Publisher’s note: Last week, The Post published a photo showing Alameda County District Attorney Pamela Price with Carol Jones, whose son, Patrick DeMarco Scott, was gunned down by an unknown assailant in 2018. The photo was too small for readers to see where the women were and what they were doing. Here we show Price and Jones as they complete a walk in memory of Scott. For more information and to contribute, please contact Carol Jones at 510-978-5517 at morefoundation.help@gmail.com. Courtesy photo.
California Black Media
Anti-Theft Bill with Jail-Time Requirement Gets Wide Ranging Support
Fed up with the alarming frequency of retail theft across California, including smash and grabs, a diverse group of business leaders, law enforcement officials, policymakers and public safety advocates joined their efforts in Sacramento on Jan. 24. Their purpose: to increase public support for Assembly Bill (AB) 1772, a bill that would make jail time mandatory for repeat theft offenders.
By California Black Media
Fed up with the alarming frequency of retail theft across California, including smash and grabs, a diverse group of business leaders, law enforcement officials, policymakers and public safety advocates joined their efforts in Sacramento on Jan. 24.
Their purpose: to increase public support for Assembly Bill (AB) 1772, a bill that would make jail time mandatory for repeat theft offenders.
Co-authored by Assemblymembers James C. Ramos (D-San Bernardino), Avelino Valencia (D-Anaheim) and Devon Mathis (R-Tulare), AB 1772 would require jail time “of one to three years for theft crimes depending upon the circumstances.
“Offenses would include grand theft, theft from an elder or dependent adult, theft or unauthorized use of a vehicle, burglary, carjacking, robbery, receiving stolen property, shoplifting or mail theft,” the bill language reads.
Ramos said the need to act is urgent.
“It’s time for us to reverse the spikes in theft crimes since the pandemic. Our law enforcement members and district attorneys need additional tools such as AB 1772. We must reverse the trend before the problem grows worse. Last year I requested a state audit of the impact of Prop 47 on Riverside and San Bernardino counties,” said Ramos.
Prop 47 is the California initiative, approved by voters in 2014, that reclassified some felonies to misdemeanors and raised the minimum amount for most misdemeanor thefts from $400 to $950.
According to a Public Policy Institute of California (PPIC) report, the rate of occurrence of petty crimes like shoplifting and commercial burglaries have increased by double digits over the last four years.
In Orange County alone, commercial burglaries have spiked by 54%.
“Our communities are experiencing an increase in retail crime and deserve appropriate action from their legislators,” Valencia said.
San Bernardino County Sheriff Shannon Dicus thanked Ramos.
“This bill, designed to impose stricter penalties on serial retail theft suspects, responds urgently to the escalating consequences of shoplifting and related crimes on our communities,” he said.
AB 1772 supporters who spoke at the gathering included Sacramento Sheriff Jim Cooper and San Bernardino Chief of Police Darren Goodman. Listed as supporters are the California State Sheriff’s Association, City of Riverside Police Chief Larry Gonzalez and Redlands Chamber of Commerce.
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