A small group gathered in front of Ed Buck’s Laurel Avenue apartment last night to sing Christmas songs with caustic lyrics to call attention to the slow pace of the investigation into the death of Gemmel Moore.
For example, to the tune of “We Wish You a Merry Christmas,” the group sang:
“We wish Ed Buck was in prison
We wish Ed Buck was in prison
We wish Ed Buck was in prison
For 25 to life!”
Moore, a 26-year-old black man who worked as an escort, was found dead in Ed Buck’s apartment on July 27 in what the L.A. County Coroner’s Office initially ruled was an accident caused by methamphetamine, an illegal and highly addictive drug. The coroner’s report described an apartment where a gay porn film was playing and a cabinet was filled with sex toys, syringes and what paramedics described as “suspected methamphetamine” while Moore lay naked and dead on a mattress on the floor.
The day before, Moore had been visiting his mother in Texas. She said that Buck, a 63-year-old white man, bought Moore a plane ticket to fly him back to Los Angeles and come to his apartment.
Nixon pushed for an investigation into the circumstances of her son’s death, which the L.A. County Sheriff’s Department announced it would examine in August. Also that month, the L.A. County District Attorney’s Office said it would grant limited immunity from prosecution to other men who came forward to talk about their experience with Buck.
According to Jasmyne Cannick, a communications and public affairs strategist who is working with Nixon, several young black men now have come forward to describe being paid by Buck to come to his apartment and do drugs.
Local activists and Moore’s friends and family members have questioned the slow pace of the investigation and the lack of much response from local politicians who received campaign donations from Buck, known for his financial support for Democratic candidates. Buck has donated to the campaigns of all members of the West Hollywood City Council with the exception of Lindsey Horvath. At a meeting in August at which Nixon addressed the Council, all but Councilmember John Duran spoke up to express their sympathy for her. However none has responded to requests by the “Justice for Gemmel” campaign to return contributions from Buck.
However, members of the California’s Democratic Party’s African American Caucus and its LGBT Caucus have spoken out. Darren Parker, chair of the African-American Caucus, said he will push for the party to return donations from Buck. Evan Murphy, Northern California chair of the LGBT Caucus, has likened the situation to allegations of sexual harassment of women and young men by men in positions of wealth or power. Capt. Chris Bergner of the L.A. County Sheriff’s Homicide Bureau has said that the investigation is continuing.
Erik, your mentioning “constitutional rights”. That see to be a contradiction, given that fact that this guy has not been charged of anything yet. So yes please let’s all just read what this web outlet post and find Ed Buck guilty, and move on to sentencing since we do not like this guy. I am sure that’s somewhere in the constitution.
I don’t agree with Larry. His comment is part of the problem of sweeping this issue under the rug. Larry is the king of attracting attention to himself and his t-shirt store and he has the nerve to comment about others expressing their constitutional rights. And the other comment: “bad behavior cuts both ways” One resulted in a death and the other resulted in community awareness. How can you compare the two? The only way to get to the bottom of this is for the Family to file lawsuits so that the discovery process can start and all the dirty… Read more »
On every level this is moronic and abhorrent. In addition to disrupting the neighborhood, these people think it’s cute to bastardize Christmas songs to protest an individual who has not been charged with anything. Go home! Do something positive. Go sing real Christmas songs in a retirement home!
I don’t understand why more people weren’t there. Democrats, animal rights activists, white social justice activists who KNOW this man are absent. I applaud this type of direct action. It’s creative and effective. If I was in the LA area, I would have attended.
That’s the most thoughtful and considerate thing I’ve ever heard Larry say.
I agree with Larry, this is not called for. I the only knowledge I have of Ed Buck, is by following this story. Until there are criminal charges and a conviction, there should be no public judgment,
Larry nailed it.
Although not a fan of Ed Buck by any degree and his general reprehensible behavior, this demonstration seems a poor way for Gemmel Moore’s advocates to advance a legitimate cause. Bad behavior cuts both ways.
There are other residents on Laurel Avenue and its the holiday season. While this is a clever way to embarass Ed Buck he is still entitled to due process. I’m not a Buck fan and have been on the other side of his verbal harassment but it is not fair to the neighborhood. Perhaps if it motivated him to ‘move’ but I doubt he will leave his rent controlled unit – The neighbors deserve their peaceful quiet enjoyment and the protesters should find a better way to vent their anger at the pace of this investigation.
The democrats are hoping this all goes away so they can again reap the benefits of Ed Bucks money. Five months and they are still investigating the the incident. It pretty clear just from the evidence provided in this story that Ed Buck was the enabler in the death of Gemmel Moore.