XPost: la.general, alt.politics.media, rec.arts.tv.comedy.colbert-report   
   XPost: dc.politics   
   From: felcher.adam.schiff@sacbee.com   
      
   The sisters of a gay man who died in the West Hollywood home of   
   Ed Buck last year have filed a wrongful-death lawsuit against   
   the wealthy Democratic donor, alleging he was a drug dealer who   
   preyed on black men and injected their brother with a lethal   
   dose of crystal methamphetamine for his own sexual gratification.   
      
   Joyce Jackson and Joann Campbell filed the lawsuit Tuesday, the   
   first anniversary of the death of their 55-year-old brother,   
   Timothy Dean. Dean was found dead of a drug overdose inside   
   Buck’s West Hollywood home Jan. 7, 2019.   
      
   It was the second time in less than two years that a black man   
   had died of an overdose at Buck’s home. After significant outcry   
   from activists, Dean’s death prompted authorities to launch an   
   investigation into Buck’s actions.   
      
   Attorney Hussain Turk, who is representing the families of Dean   
   and Gemmel Moore, who was found dead in Buck’s home in July   
   2017, said it took unreasonable efforts from the community to   
   get the Los Angeles County district attorney’s office to look at   
   the information they had gathered about Buck, a longtime donor   
   to the Democratic Party and a fixture in West Hollywood.   
      
   Buck has been indicted on federal charges of providing the meth   
   that led to the deaths of both Moore, 26, and Dean. The L.A.   
   County district attorney’s office has also charged Buck, 65,   
   with battery and operating a drug den. He has pleaded not guilty   
   and remains in federal custody.   
      
   Prosecutors allege Buck preyed on vulnerable gay black men who   
   were homeless, addicted to drugs or working as escorts and lured   
   them to his Laurel Avenue apartment, where he manipulated them   
   into doing drugs for his sexual gratification.   
      
   “The issue of sexual violence has become very salient thanks to   
   the #MeToo movement, but one of the failures of the movement is   
   that really only wealthy, white women are trusted when they come   
   forward with allegations,” Turk said. “Had the victims in this   
   case been white or wealthy, then we firmly believe that the   
   claims would have been taken much more seriously.”   
      
   Several men have claimed Buck injected them with methamphetamine   
   as they slept. In one instance, a man said Buck referred to him   
   using a racial slur, according to the lawsuit.   
      
   The suit alleges that Buck “had a predatory and injurious system   
   of soliciting black gay men and watching them cling to life   
   while battling symptoms of methamphetamine toxicity after he   
   intravenously administered large doses of the drug to them.” The   
   men engaged in sexual acts with and in front of Buck in exchange   
   for compensation in the form of temporary housing, money,   
   alcohol, marijuana and other substances, court records show.   
      
   On occasions before Dean’s death, Buck had injected the man with   
   crystal methamphetamine without his consent and then forced him   
   to watch hardcore pornographic films and perform sex acts,   
   according to the lawsuit.   
      
   When reached by phone Wednesday, Buck’s attorney, Seymour   
   Amster, told a Times reporter that he was not aware that a civil   
   lawsuit had been filed. He did not have an immediate comment.   
      
   Amster has previously told The Times that critics had unfairly   
   used race to blame Buck for the deaths, saying, “Some people who   
   all of a sudden have media attention are trying to divide the   
   races.”   
      
   The lawsuit accuses Buck of sexual battery, assault, hate   
   violence, negligence and intentional infliction of emotional   
   distress as well as other crimes. A separate civil lawsuit filed   
   by Moore’s family last year, which in addition to Buck names   
   L.A. County and Dist. Atty. Jackie Lacey, is still ongoing.   
      
   A Times analysis of campaign finance records shows that, since   
   the mid-2000s, Buck has given more than $500,000 to political   
   candidates and causes, almost all of them linked to the   
   Democratic Party. Forty politicians currently holding office in   
   California have received donations from Buck, including Lacey,   
   Gov. Gavin Newsom, Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti, and U.S.   
   Reps. Ted Lieu (D-Torrance) and Adam B. Schiff (D-Burbank). Some   
   politicians have returned the money.   
      
   “The goal is holding not only Ed Buck to account, but also the   
   county and the leaders who are supposed to be protecting   
   everyone in Los Angeles,” Turk said.   
      
   https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2020-01-08/on-the-   
      
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