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For the second time in three years, a black man’s body has been found in the home of prominent Los Angeles Democratic donor Ed Buck.
Buck, 60, is a longtime political donor, a former West Hollywood City Council candidate and a well-known figure in LGBT political circles in Southern California. Buck has contributed to the campaigns of Hillary Clinton, former California Gov. Jerry Brown, and L.A. Mayor Eric Garcetti.
Los Angeles County Sheriff’s deputies West Hollywood station responded to the Laurel Avenue apartment complex at 1:05 a.m. PST on Monday to respond to a report of a person not breathing, the department said in a statement.
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Paramedics pronounced a man dead at the scene, according to the Los Angeles Times. The cause of death was not yet known. The deceased man’s name was not released, but Sheriff’s Department spokeswoman Nicole Nishida said he was Black.
Buck previously was investigated for the 2017 overdose death of another Black man named Gemmel Moore. More died of a crystal meth overdose.
Buck was present for the deaths of both men, the Sheriff’s Department said Monday. Buck’s attorney, Seymour Amster, said Buck was not arrested and is cooperating with investigators.
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“From what I know, it was an old friend who died of an accidental overdose, and unfortunately, we believe that the substance was ingested at some place other than the apartment,” Amster said to the Times. “The person came over intoxicated.”
Numerous young Black gay men in L.A. have alleged that Buck has a fetish for shooting drugs into Black men he picks up off the street or on hookup sites reports the Advocate. Moore had written about Buck injecting him with dangerous drugs before his death.
“I’ve become addicted to drugs and the worst one at that,” Moore wrote in his journal in December 2016 according to The Advocate. “Ed Buck is the one to thank. He gave me my first injection of crystal meth.”
Buck claimed he was not responsible for Moore’s death and did not give him Meth. The Los Angeles County District Attorney declined to file charges against Buck citing “insufficient evidence.”