With Immunity in Place, Los Angeles County Homicide Detectives Meet with Victims
Los Angeles, CA - After successfully securing immunity from the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office for other young Black gay men who say they have information regarding the prominent Democratic donor in the middle of the scandal involving the crystal meth overdose death of a Black gay man, human rights attorney and legal consultant Nana Gyamfi announced that interviews with homicide detectives from the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department have begun. In the wake of the death of Gemmel Moore, other young Black gay men have stepped forward making allegations against prominent Democratic donor Ed Buck 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.
“We’re hopeful that a substantive investigation can now take place with the statements of the additional victims who will corroborate certain details in Gemmel Moore’s journal but also recount their own experiences with Ed Buck,” said Attorney Gyamfi. “These victim’s statements are key in showing a pattern of criminal behavior by Ed Buck.”
On July 27, 26-year-old Gemmel Moore was found dead of an apparent crystal meth overdose in the West Hollywood home of prominent Democratic donor Ed Buck. Moore’s death was immediately classified as an accidental methamphetamine overdose by the coroner, but now the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department’s homicide bureau is taking a closer look after his personal journal was published and other young men have stepped forward.
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.
Since Moore’s death, Buck has been accused by other young Black gay men of being a sexual predator, kidnapping, forced drug use, injecting unconscious Black gay men with crystal meth, filing false police reports to cover his crimes, coercion and pimping and pandering by his victims.
The announcement of immunity paved the way for victims of prominent Buck to safely provide statements to homicide detectives that may implicate Buck in Moore’s death as well as other crimes against young Black gay men.
Justice4Gemmel.org has been been established to help more victims come forward.
Attorney Nana Gymafi, said, “Getting more victims to come forward about Ed Buck could provide important insight and evidence about Buck’s double life as a top Democratic donor whose friends include Los Angeles’ political elite and as the man who picks up vulnerable young Black gay men off of the streets and online and forcibly injects them with crystal meth.”
In online ads soliciting young Black gay men, Buck has referred to them as being a “6-foot” n-word. On his Facebook page, he joked with friends using the n-word.
Buck has given hundreds of thousands of dollars of Democratic causes and candidates over the years. His Facebook page boasts dozens of photos of him with everyone from presidential candidate Hillary Clinton to Governor Jerry Brown, Los Angeles County Democratic Party and California Democratic Party chairman Eric Bauman and even Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti.
A petition was started calling on Democrats to return Ed Buck’s campaign contributions to a fund to support Gemmel Moore’s family and other victims of Ed Buck’s. To date, Rep. Karen Bass (D-California) is the only elected official to return her entire donation from Ed Buck of $250 to Moore’s family. The local Stonewall Democratic Club has contributed as well as West Hollywood Councilmember John D’Amico who contributed $25 out of the thousands of dollars in donations he’s received from Buck.
Over 1,500 signatures have been collected.