Ed Buck
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Edward Bernard Peter Buckmelter, better known as Ed Buck, (born August 24, 1954) is an American businessman, political activist and influential donor to the Democratic Party. In 2017 and 2019 two African-American men, Gemmel Moore and Timothy Dean, were found dead from drug overdoses in Buck's home. An investigation uncovered that Buck had a habit of bringing African-American men home and injecting them with methamphetamines for sexual gratification, which resulted in the deaths of Moore and Dean. Buck was convicted of various federal charges relating to the deaths.
Biography edit
Buck, born in Ohio, worked for his friend's data service company Rapid Information Services. A year and a half after Buck joined, he bought the company to save it from bankruptcy and renamed it Gopher Courier. He made a great deal of money running it for five years before selling it for over a million dollars.[1]
Buck first entered politics to oppose the election of controversial Republican politician Evan Mecham as Governor of Arizona. In December 1986, before Mecham had been sworn in, Buck announced his campaign for Mecham to be recalled for racism and corruption, highlighting his opposition to Martin Luther King Day and proposals to massively reduce the size of the state police. He led a protest against Mecham at his inauguration and distributed bumper stickers reading "Mecham for Ex-Governor", which the Arizona Attorney General ruled state employees were allowed to have on their cars. Mecham's supporters responded by attacking Buck over his homosexuality, resulting in Buck switching parties from Republican to Democrat and becoming a major donor to the Democratic Party. Buck ultimately succeeded in triggering a recall election against Mecham, but before it could conclude Mecham was impeached and removed from office for misuse of funds, a crime for which he would ultimately be found not guilty.[1]
On July 27, 2017, a homeless African-American male prostitute named Gemmel Moore died of a methamphetamines overdose at Buck's apartment in West Hollywood. His naked body was found lying on a mattress in the living room with a gay porn film playing on the TV. A search of the apartment found drug paraphernalia, including syringes and glass pipes, and methamphetamines.[2] An investigation by the Los Angeles County Coroner's Office concluded that Moore had died from an accidental drug overdose after a sexual encounter, declining to charge Buck with any offence.[3] This was met with outrage from those in the black and gay communities, including the family of Gemmel Moore, who accused the authorities of not caring because Moore was a black male prostitute whereas Buck was an influential white politician.[4]
On January 7, 2019, another African-American man, Timothy Dean, was found dead in Buck's apartment. His death was also declared to be from a drug overdose. Following news of Dean's death, 50 civil rights groups released a joint statement calling for Buck to be investigated over the deaths.[5]
On September 17, 2019, Buck was arrested and charged with maintaining a drug house, administering methamphetamines and three counts of battery causing serious injury. The charges related to the death of Timothy Dean, and allegations by a number of gay African-American men that Buck had lured them to his apartment and then forcibly injected them with methamphetamines as part of a race-based sexual fetish.[6] Buck had solicited victims using the gay app Adam4Adam, or else lured homeless men by promising them large sums of money for sex, before forcibly injecting them to the limit of their bodies' tolerance and physically and sexually assaulting them while they were unconscious. He filmed himself during several of these encounters. If victims did not take enough amphetamines, Buck would threaten to withhold payment, which was essential to his homeless victims.[7] Buck was later further charged with five additional felonies, including one count of "administering methamphetamines resulting in death" in the case of Gemmel Moore.[8]
On July 27, 2021, a federal court convicted Buck of all charges against him. He was sentenced to 30 years in prison the following year.[9]
References edit
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Who Is Ed Buck?, WEHOVille
- ↑ Homicide detectives probe man’s overdose death at the home of prominent L.A. Democratic donor Ed Buck, Los Angeles Times
- ↑ LA County DA Declines to Charge Ed Buck in Death of Gemmel Moore, WEHOVille
- ↑ It took two years to arrest Democratic donor Ed Buck despite shocking allegations, red flags. Why?, Los Angeles Times
- ↑ Ed Buck’s attorney says critics have unfairly used race to blame his client for two deaths in his home, Los Angeles Times
- ↑ Democratic donor arrested after third man overdoses at his West Hollywood home, The Washington Post
- ↑ Ed Buck sentenced to 30 years in prison for abuses that led to men’s drug deaths, Los Angeles Times
- ↑ Grand Jury Charges Ed Buck with Four Additional Felonies, Including that He Enticed Victims to Travel Interstate to Engage in Prostitution, United State's Attorney's Office
- ↑ Ed Buck, once a prominent Democratic donor, sentenced to 30 years in prison, CNN