Ed Buck, an activist and political donor, faces criminal charges after discovering an overdose of methamphetamine in his apartment. Buck was arrested Tuesday night.
Los Angeles prosecutors say they have accused Democratic activist and LGBTQ activist Ed Buck of running a drug house and other crimes after a man overdosed methamphetamine in Buck’s apartment last week. The man survived, but two other men died of an overdose at Buck’s apartment over the past two years.
Buck was arrested Tuesday night – after months in which activists and relatives of the dead men have called for criminal charges for the suspicious circumstances surrounding the deaths of Gemmel Moore in 2017 and Timothy Michael Dean in January.
Buck is now facing battery charges that have resulted in serious injuries, methamphetamine, and a drug treatment center.
If convicted, Buck, 65, could be sentenced to a maximum of five years and eight months in jail, said Greg Risling, deputy chief of media relations for the district attorney’s office. Los Angeles.
The last overdose occurred on September 11th. According to the prosecutor, Buck allegedly injected methamphetamine into his apartment on Laurel Avenue in West Hollywood. The man suffered an overdose but survived.
Moore and Dean’s lawyers have long accused Buck of being a sexual predator who has attracted gay black men at risk to his home in West Hollywood. As KCRW member station reported this summer, Buck would have pressured men to use drugs, especially crystal meth.
When Moore died at the age of 26, the police found drug supplies, syringes, pipes and plastic bags. The coroner attributed his death to an accidental overdose – but a homicide investigation was opened after the publication of Moore’s diary a few weeks later. Moore blamed Buck for introducing him to methamphetamine.
“Honestly, I do not know what to do, I became addicted and the worst,” Moore wrote, according to his family’s website. He added, “It’s Ed Buck who has to thank.”
Prosecutors chose not to press charges against Buck for Moore’s death. Earlier this year, Moore’s mother, LaTisha Nixon, filed a lawsuit for wrongful death against Buck and Los Angeles County officials. She says Dean’s death could have been avoided if the authorities had accused Buck in 2017.
For more than two years, activists have said that Buck was not charged with a crime because he was white, rich and politically connected. Now, they wish the news that he has been arrested.
“We are completely ecstatic,” writer and activist Jasmyne Cannick said via Twitter . “The lives of black gay men are important, and the entire black LGBT community will be celebrating tonight because our lives matter.”
Cannick, who has blamed prosecutors and the sheriff’s department for failing to arrest a violent predator, has collected much evidence against Buck, posting interviews and other documents online. The next step, according to her, is for him to face new charges related to the deaths of Moore and Dean.
After Dean’s death earlier this year, Buck’s lawyer, Seymour Amster, insisted that his client was innocent of any crime.
“This is not a situation where Mr. Buck has caused death,” said Amster. “This is a situation in which Mr. Buck has long-time friends who, unfortunately, are not managing their lives well.”
Prosecutors recommend that Buck’s 65-year bond be set at $ 4 million.
“I remain deeply concerned about the safety of those whose circumstances may make them more vulnerable to criminal predators,” said Los Angeles District Attorney Jackie Lacey, adding that there is new evidence of a recent overdose of 37 years at Buck The apartment had prompted OK to file a complaint against Buck.