Prominent Democrat donor Ed Buck was arrested and charged in California on Tuesday for allegedly operating a drug house after three men connected to Buck have overdosed on methamphetamines over the last two years.
“Activists have been calling for Buck’s arrest, believing him responsible for the deaths of Gemmel Moore, 26, and Timothy Dean, 55. Both black gay men were found in Buck’s West Hollywood’s apartment less than two years apart,” ABC 7 reported. “Lacey’s office said Tuesday that Buck has now been charged with operating a drug house and providing meth to a 37-year-old man who overdosed last week.”
Buck was arrested and charged with operating a drug house after a 37-year-old man overdosed last week on methamphetamines that he allegedly got from Buck.
“He was charged with one felony count each of battery causing serious injury, administering methamphetamine and maintaining a drug house,” ABC 7 added. “Authorities say Buck injected the victim with meth on Sept. 11 at Buck’s home in the 1200 block of Laurel Avenue in West Hollywood. The man suffered an overdose but survived.”
The Los Angeles Times notes that Buck is a prominent LGBT political activist whom prosecutors previously declined to charge due to a lack of evidence.
“They ruled Moore’s death an accident, and an initial review by sheriff’s deputies found nothing suspicious. But in August 2017, homicide detectives launched a new investigation after Moore’s mother and friends questioned whether the drugs that killed him were self-administered,” The Los Angeles Times reported. “A notebook found in Moore’s possession indicated he used drugs with someone whose name is redacted in the coroner’s report. The Times has reviewed pages of that journal, in which Moore purportedly wrote about using crystal methamphetamine.”
“Ed Buck is the one to thank,” Moore allegedly wrote. “He gave me my first injection of chrystal [sic] meth.”
“Moore’s mother, LaTisha Nixon of Texas, had questioned whether Buck’s ties to elected officials and differences in race and class influenced the investigation,” The Los Angeles Times added. “Buck, who is 63 and white, is a longtime political donor, onetime West Hollywood City Council candidate and a well-known figure in LGBTQ political circles. Moore had been homeless and had worked as an escort.”
The Daily Mail reported last week that “a photograph emerged on Friday of a young black man with what appears to be a bandage on his arm and carrying bundles of paper towels entering Buck’s apartment.”
“The picture is the first photo evidence that the 65-year-old West Hollywood-based Hillary Clinton donor is still being visited by young black men, even after being accused of being involved in two drug overdose deaths in his apartment,” The Mail added.
After the second man died in Buck’s apartment, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) announced that it would reallocate donations that it had received from Buck.
DCCC spokesman Jared Smith told Fox News: “We are deeply disturbed by the allegations in this case which is why the DCCC has donated Mr. Buck’s contributions from the last election cycle to the NALEO Education Fund and the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies for a program to improve diversity in Congressional staffing.”
The Washington Examiner noted that immediately following the second man’s death, “a spokesperson for Clinton, who received $3,950 from Buck in 2016 through her campaign and Ready PAC, also did not respond to questions about returning the donations.”