The Black LGBTQ community has become one of the most marginalized groups in America. Despite all the victories the community has achieved, black gay men still face daily harassment and ridicule from the public. In most scenarios, they become the victims of violent murders.
On Tuesday July 27, 2021, Democratic politician Ed Buck was convicted on federal charges for injecting two black gay men with methamphetamine in exchange for sex. Unfortunately, the two victims, Gemmel Moore and Timothy Dean, died from a drug overdose.
Buck was found guilty on all nine felony accounts in federal court, which could ultimately lead to life in prison. Since Ed Buck’s arrest on September 17, 2019, political officials, activists, and family members have pushed for his conviction of murder. After years of waiting for a verdict, it looks like justice will finally be served.
Democratic politician Ed Buck has become a known predator. Though, he never presented himself that way to the public. In front of the cameras, the 66-year-old was a political philanthropist who donated more than $500,000 to other Democratic politicians like Hilary Clinton and Barack Obama. Additionally, sources noted that he often made donations to the LGBTQ community and animal rights.
Behind closed doors, however, Ed Buck was a violent sexual deviant. On Tuesday, prosecutors noted that Buck lured men from the gay dating escort websites like Adam4Adam to his apartment in West Hollywood, L.A to satisfy his twisted fetish of “party and play” sex.
In particular, Buck preyed on homeless men who were majorly black. Buck would forcibly inject his victims with the drug methamphetamine on a daily basis and perform nonconsensual sex acts on them.
“Buck’s preference was to personally inject victims, and he pressured or incentivized victims to let him do so, sometimes offering large cash bonuses to coerce a victim to agree to an injection or additional injections. Other times, Buck simply injected victims while they were unconscious,” the prosecutors wrote in court papers.
So far, only two victims have been found dead. The first victim had been 26-year-old Gemmel Moore, who was found dead on July 27, 2017. Prosecutors revealed that Moore had flown out from Houston to L.A at Buck’s expense. They further shared that Buck had injected Moore with meth, right before his death.
Buck’s second victim, Timothy Dean, death was just as horrific. The 55-year-old’s body was discovered by L.A County Sheriff’s Deputy Oscar Palacios back in 2019. According to sources, Dean’s body was found “lying on the floor of Buck’s living room.”
He was pronounced dead back in January 7th of that same year. During his testimony, Palacios shared that Buck acted indifferent to Dean’s death. He further recalled “Buck wanting to discuss other things, such as the photos of famous people on his walls.” The Deputy’s testimony certainly revealed Ed Buck’s true nature.
Prosecutors have concluded that Moore and Dean’s cause of death was due to Buck’s excessive drug treatments. However, the opposing side doesn’t agree. On Friday, the defense called pathologist Dr. Marvin Pietruszka to the stand, who argued that the two victims died from underlying health issues.
Though, his findings became sketchy when he admitted to being paid between $10,000 and $15,000 by the defense to review medical and investigative documents. Even more shocking, he was paid to testify that Dean died of heart failure and pulmonary edema.
Pietruszka even claimed that Moore died of pulmonary edema caused by AIDS. However, he changed his answer when questioned by prosecutors. He noted that Moore, who was HIV-positive at the time, was never diagnosed with AIDS. The pathologist’s findings were completely thrown out the window after two deputy medical examiners with the Los Angeles County coroner’s office concluded that there’s “zero percent chance either man’s death was not caused by methamphetamine.”
Obviously, Pietruszka’s story didn’t work. Despite the fact that no other deaths have been reported, other victims have come forth to share their stories of abuse by Ed Buck. Some victims were forced to drink the date-rape drug GHB and even endure demonic sexual acts. Others, however, have revealed that they had several overdoses at Buck’s West Hollywood apartment.
Luckily, one of the latest victims, Dane Brown, survived to tell his story. The 39-year-old shared with the jury on Tuesday that he had met the politician on Adam4Adam back in June 2019. Buck had driven Dane to a Motel 6 in San Fernado Valley where they smoked meth. Dane further testified that they moved to a MacArthur Park motel, where Buck had forcibly injected Dane six times in one day alone. It was then that Dane had made the mistake of confiding in Buck about becoming homeless.
Buck allowed him to move into his apartment. However, for six weeks straight he injected Dane with meth four times a day. Whenever Dane asked for a day off, however, Buck threatened to kick him out. Since becoming a permanent guest at Buck’s apartment, he’d been hospitalized twice from forced drug use.
On September 4, 2019, Dane was taken to urgent care after Buck injected him a third round of meth for the day. Soon after he was admitted to the Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, where he was treated and released. The 39-year-old experienced his second near-death experience just days after.
This time, Buck had offered him money. He injected Dane three more times with meth and even gave him the date-rape drug GHB. During his testimony, Dane recalled “feeling his body going cold and his heart pounding.” He asked Buck to take him to the hospital , however, the corrupt politician refused. At that point, he thought he was going to die.
Fortunately, Dane’s mother’s voice had given him the strength to get out, escape and seek out help. The 39-year-old revealed that he walked to nearby gas station, where an employee called 911. Prosecutors played the “video footage of paramedics strapping Dane onto a gurney.” While Dane had experienced a fatal overdose, he luckily survived.
Another victim that had escaped was 36-year-old Thomas. Unfortunately, The Los Angeles Times, who reported Thomas’s story, failed to reveal the last names of some of the witnesses. Thomas revealed that he had a similar encounter with Buck. He met the politician online through Adam4Adam as well. The first time Buck injected him with meth, however, he recalled “feeling woozy” and “drifted in and out consciousness.”
During another visit to Buck’s apartment, he found himself paralyzed and lost all feeling in his body, except his eyeballs. He couldn’t move for several hours. When the “numbness” in his body finally subsided, he attempted to move. At that point, he’d seen Buck walking out of closet wielding a chainsaw. During his testimony, Thomas further revealed that Buck “put a hole in the wall.” Prosecutors have no idea why Buck performed the act in the end. Though, it’s pretty clear to assume he used the chainsaw as a scare tactic.
Given the horrific nature of Ed Buck’s crimes, several persons have spoken out against the politician. In the wake of Gemmel Moore’s death, protestors sat outside Buck’s apartment demanding justice. More importantly, Moore’s family pushed for Buck's arrest.
During this Tuesday’s verdict, Timothy Dean’s sister Joyce Jackson said, “Ed Buck will never harm anyone else, and I thank God for that." After more than four hours of deliberation, during a two-week trial, justice had prevailed.
Even Dean’s mother LaTisha Nixon proclaimed that they had finally won this case. Moreover, a sentencing date has not yet been scheduled. Despite the victim’s families not being out the woods yet, the verdict still counts as a huge victory in the end.