Ed Buck Has Been Hit With Wrongful Death Lawsuit

Democratic donor Ed Buck, whose home has been the site of the deaths of two Black gay men in the past two years, was slapped with a wrongful death lawsuit on Tuesday. The suit was filed by the mother of one of these men, 27-year-old Gemmel Moore, NBC News reports. Moore died of an overdose in Buck's West Hollywood apartment in 2017. Moore's mother, Latisha Nixon, filed the lawsuit in California Superior Court.

Investigators labelled Moore's death in Buck's apartment an accidental overdose. In January, 55-year-old Timothy Dean was also found dead in Buck's apartment after using drugs. The lawsuit accuses Buck of wrongful death, sexual battery, assault, battery, negligence, civil rights violation, hate violence, and drug dealer liability.

"LATISHA NIXON'S son, GEMMEL MOORE, was a young Black man whose life was abruptly and tragically cut short on July 27, 2017 when he died after being injected with a lethal dose of crystal methamphetamine at the hands of EDWARD BUCK, a wealthy older white man," the lawsuit states. "[Buck] has a well-documented history of isolating Black men for predatory sexual encounters during which he injects them with crystal methamphetamine in the confines of a drug den in his West Hollywood apartment."

Gemmel Moore wrote in a 2016 journal entry that Buck was the one who introduced him to drugs and got him addicted.

"I honestly don't know what to do. I've become addicted to drugs and the worst one at that," the entry says. "Ed Buck is the one to thank. He gave me my first injection of crystal meth it was very painful, but after all the troubles, I became addicted to the pain and fetish/fantasy."

Moore adds, "This man is crazy and its [sic] sad. Will I ever get help?"

Though Dean and Moore were the only two Black gay men who died in Buck's apartment, journalist Jasmyne Cannick has interviewed many Black men who have accused Buck of being a sexual predator, filing false police reports, forcing drug use, coercion and more. According to Cannick, the men have a pattern: they are Black gay men who are living with HIV, have experienced homelessness, and engage in sex work.

"The exploitation and manipulation of vulnerable young Black gay, bisexual, trans, and queer men who are largely seen as expendable by privileged, white male predators must stop," Cannick wrote in an op-ed for Out.

Seymour Amster, Buck's attorney, told NBC News that they "deny all allegations of wrongdoing and look forward to litigating this matter in a court of law."

Cannick and other activists delivered a petition with 30,000 signatures to LA authorities, demanding they reopen the investigation of these deaths and bring charges up against Buck.

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