A previously unpublished, unreported and undated journal entry from 26-year-old Gemmel Moore who was found dead July 27, 2017 in the West Hollywood apartment of 63-year-old prominent Democratic political donor Ed Buck, says that he was manipulated into “slamming” again and questioned would he ever get help. Moore was Black, gay, and worked as an escort.
“Slamming” refers to gay men injecting drugs such as mephedrone, GHB or crystal meth. “Slamming” gives users a more intense high and commonly takes places at sex parties which can go on for several days, according to experts who also have warned that the trend could be linked to a disturbing rise in HIV infection rates.
Undated journal entry from Gemmel Moore
“My life is at an alltime [sic] high right now & I mean that from all ways. I ended up back at Buck [sic] house again and got munipulated [sic] into slamming again. I even went to the point where I was forced to doing 4 within a 2day [sic] period. This man is crazy and its [sic] sad. Will I ever get help?”
Moore’s death was immediately classified as an accidental meth overdose by the Los Angeles County Coroner but after new allegations and evidence the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department says that they were now investigating Moore’s death as a possible homicide.
Among Moore’s personal belongings collected by his family from the coroner’s was a journal in which he documents his feelings about the direction of his life and the role of Ed Buck in it.
In previously published journal entries Moore wrote, “I honestly don’t know what to do. I’ve become addicted to drugs and the worst one at that,” a December entry reads. “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.”
His last entry, dated Dec. 3, 2016 reads: “If it didn’t hurt so bad, I’d kill myself but I’ll let Ed Buck do it for now.
In online ads soliciting young Black gay men, Buck has referred to them as being a “6 foot” n-word. On his Facebook page he joked with friends using the n-word.
After news reports of Moore’s death, additional victims of Ed Buck have privately come forward recounting similar stories about a man who has a Tuskegee Experiment like fetish and who likes to shoot drugs into young Black men that he picks up off the street or via dating hookup websites like Adam4Adam.com. The drugs, according to the victims, are often times injected into the young men without their permission and while they’re unconscious after having been given GHB (also known as the “date rape” drug).
Ed Buck smokes crystal meth in his apartment with “Blake.”
Currently Ed Buck has not been arrested or charged with a crime. His attorney Seymour Amster has said that his client was a “good friend” of Moore’s and is a kindhearted man who offered Moore and other young men who were homeless a place they could come to shower and rest, although they did not generally spend the night.
Most of Los Angeles’ Democratic and LGBT community–which are often one in same–has had nothing to say publicly about Moore’s death. Buck has given hundreds of thousands of dollars of Democratic causes and candidates over the years. His Facebook page boasts dozens photos of him with everyone from presidential candidate Hillary Clinton to Governor Jerry Brown, Los Angeles County Democratic Party and California Democratic Party chairman Eric Bauman and Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti.
To read my complete series on Ed Buck, please click here.
