Millbrae, CA - The Justice 4 Gemmel + All of Ed Buck’s Victim’s advocacy group has announced that the Chair of the African American Caucus of the California Democratic Party, Darren Parker, will author a resolution on behalf of the Caucus calling on the Party as a whole to return the money of prominent donor Ed Buck and to publicly support the family of Gemmel Moore and all of Buck’s victims. This comes after the group’s media consultant, political communications strategist Jasmyne Cannick spoke before the Caucus at the Fall/Winter Executive Board Meeting of the California Democratic Party at the invitation of Parker and Chair of the California Young Democrats’ Black Caucus Devin T. Murphy. The California Democratic Party is the largest Democratic Party organization outside of Washington, D.C.
“Too often there are ills in the African American community that we just don’t discuss,” explained Chair of the African American Caucus of the California Democratic Party Darren Parker. “These issues that we don’t bring to the surface are starting to define what happens to our people. So I thought it was important--one, as a chair who believes in transparency, who believes in education even in adversity that we have to talk about the things that we’re uncomfortable with or even hearing about.”
“The issue of the young man had been coming up but had been pushed under the rug by many different factors over the last few months,” he continued. “So then opportunity came up where it was challenged what is the African American Caucus going to do? My first response was to put it on the agenda. It’s something in our community that we’ve been reluctant to talk about--lifestyles, what happens to our kids, what happens to our brothers and sisters. We tend to talk about it amongst ourselves but not challenge those people that in fact cause the issues that we’re having. I thought it was important that we bring it to forefront--not only at the Caucus but as part of the California Democratic Party because it hadn’t been talked about and the facts are the facts and they’re not going to go away. But if we can make sure by having this conversation that one more young brotha won’t have to go through that happened to [Gemmel Moore] then we’ve truly done our jobs. And until we step up to the plate and bring those things that affect our community to the attention of others that cause those problems, we will continue to suffer and that’s why it was so important for Jasmyne to bring those issues to our Caucus. Our silence condones [Buck’s] actions. Our lives are just as important and as a Black man our issues are more important to me because I am Black.”
“As chair of the young, Black Democrats this is absolutely something we should be talking about and addressing,” said Chair of the California Young Democrats’ Black Caucus, Devin T. Murphy. “Gemmel Moore was a young Black gay man who died in the home of one of our Party’s donors. We have a responsibility not only to Gemmel’s family and friends but to African Americans, African American Democrats and Democrats period to not only talk the talk when it comes to our Party’s values but to also walk the walk. We cannot and should not be taking money from a man who clearly is hurting people--in particular Black gay men. All Black lives matter.”
Evan Minton, Northern California Chair of the California Democratic Party’s LGBT Caucus added, “Especially in the wake of the Me Too movement, we need to remember that troubling actions involving power and control can take place between and among all genders and gender identities. Further, we need to bring to light and take just as seriously each aspect of Mr. Moore's case as we would if the alleged perpetrator were Black and the alleged victim were White.”
Gemmel Moore was found dead of a crystal meth overdose in Ed Buck’s West Hollywood home on July 27. His death was immediately classified as an accidental methamphetamine overdose by the coroner, but after his personal journal was published and other young men stepped forward recounting similar stories about a man who they say has a Tuskegee Experiment like fetish which includes shooting drugs into young Black men that he picks up off the street or via dating hookup websites, the L.A. County Sheriff’s Department’s opened a homicide investigation.
The coroner’s report on Gemmel Moore’s death corroborates Gemmel’s chilling words from his journal describing the violence he experienced at the hands of Ed Buck.
“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.’
“‘My life is at an alltime [sic] high right now & I mean that from all ways. I ended up back at Buck [sic] house again and got munipulated [sic] into slamming again. I even went to the point where I was forced to doing 4 within a 2day [sic] period. This man is crazy and its [sic] sad. Will I ever get help?’
“His last entry, dated Dec. 3, 2016, reads: ‘If it didn’t hurt so bad, I’d kill myself, but I’ll let Ed Buck do it for now.
According to the coroner’s report stated that the police found in Ed Buck’s apartment, sex toys, syringes and “clear plastic bags with suspected methamphetamine in a tool box roll-cabinet in the living room” and that a coroner’s investigator found 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.”
“As Democrats we shouldn't be in the business of protecting predators with our silence,” explained Jasmyne Cannick. “If we can condemn those who hurt women we can certainly condemn those who hurt the most vulnerable in our community. As a Democrat that’s what I expect from my Party’s leadership. I thank both Darren Parker and Devin T. Murphy for the opportunity and I look forward to our Party’s chair, Eric Bauman’s, response and swift action.”
Ed Buck has contributed thousands of dollars to the California Democratic Party, candidates running for office and those in elected office including Senator Kevin de Leon, Gavin Newsome, Governor Jerry Brown, Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti and Los Angeles District Attorney Jackie Lacey. For a list of Buck’s political donations, please click here.
Advocates for Gemmel Moore and Ed Buck’s victims have requested that money be returned to a fund set up for justice for Moore and the other young men and that the California Democratic Party condemn Buck’s actions.