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Why did it take so long to arrest Ed Buck?

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Democratic Donor Ed Buck is currently the most talked about person in Los Angeles. The West Hollywood resident has been arrested and charged with three counts of battery, providing and injecting methamphetamine, and operating a drug den out of his apartment.

Activist Jasmyne Cannick and her team are now hoping for Los Angeles County District Attorney Jackie Lacey to expand the state’s criminal complaint against Buck, by adding two counts of 1st degree felony murder.

Both Gemmel Moore and Timothy Dean died inside Buck’s apartment due to methamphetamine overdoses, two cases which were the result of Buck’s alleged misconduct. All of the elements of felony murder under California law are, reportedly, met in the case. The controversy alleges that Lacey failed to make an arrest the first time and, according to a number of community activists, conducted a “sub-par” investigation of Buck in the early stages of the investigation.

“We brought them plenty of witnesses,” Cannick told the LA Times. “Over the years, I met with victims repeatedly. They didn’t want to be out in the open. One of them is now dead, and sadly he didn’t get to see this day.”

An affidavit filed by the Department of Justice lists at least 10 other victims against whom Buck committed a violent sex crime. Cannick’s team of activists also suggest that D.A. Lacey’s felony complaint should vindicate all of Buck’s victims accordingly.

It’s expected that Lacey will retract the reported false statements she made during a press conference at the Hall of Justice, on Sept. 19.

Cannick said Lacey falsely claimed that her team worked “diligently” and “carefully” to find and speak with witnesses over the course of two years. Cannick said her team was dispatched to personally escort witnesses to the LA Sheriff’s Department headquarters and pressure them into recording their witnesses’ statements.

In May, the team discovered that Lacey wasn’t aware that these reports existed. Lacey, according to Cannick, claimed that the activist team presented witnesses whose statements were comprised entirely of hearsay. Cannick said this is false. Each of the witnesses, Cannick attests, which were presented to the county, were “directly and disturbingly” victimized by Buck.

“We watched the press conference where District Attorney Jackie Lacey and the Sheriff take victory laps, which we found appalling and shameful. They failed our brother and Gemmel Moore in every possible way. The evidence was there long before now,” said Timothy Dean’s family in a statement. “Mr. Buck was given special treatment because of his race and status and that is shameful.”

The LA Times also reported that at least 10 men who are homeless and frequent West Hollywood’s Plummer Park said that Buck allegedly paid them to use drugs and wear skimpy underwear for his sexual pleasure.

“Several of the men claimed they lost consciousness after Buck served them a drink, and some said they woke up to the sight of him injecting drugs into their arms against their will, according to the complaint,” reported to the LA Times.

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