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From Alex Johnson and Tim Fitzsimons
LOS ANGELES – A man was found dead Monday in the apartment of the Democratic fundraiser Ed Buck, located in the area of Los Angeles, announced Monday – the second time that a body has been discovered at his home for a year and a half.
The dead, whose identity was not revealed, was found at 1:05 am (4:05 am ET) at Buck's apartment in West Hollywood after the 911 call, said Charles Moore , sheriff's deputy from Los Angeles County, who said that while the homicide bureau was investigating, the cause of death remained unknown.
Federal Election Records show that Buck, 63, who has devoted decades of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender issues, has has donated more than $ 53,000 to Democratic candidates and the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee since 2008.
In July 2017, authorities approved Buck on the death of 26-year-old Gemelle Moore. a gay male escort whose body was found in the same apartment after the investigators declared that his death was the result of an accidental overdose of crystal meth.
Investigators reopened the case last year after friends and family were concerned that his political connections might have contributed to the decision. Prosecutors refused to file a complaint in July, saying the evidence was insufficient. Buck resigned last year as a board member of the Stonewall Democratic Club, an LGBT political group in Los Angeles, following questions surrounding Moore's death.
The sheriff's department said Monday that Buck was present during both incidents. investigators were re-examining the case of 2017.
Buck's lawyer, Seymour Amster, told NBC News Monday that this one was not in custody and that it was had not been charged for Monday's death. He stated that the man was a "longtime friend" of Buck who had asked to come.
"Ed was reluctant, but the friend insisted, and Ed so allowed the friend to come," said Amster. Shortly after, the man "began to show bizarre behavior," prompting Buck to call 911, Amster said.
The Los Angeles LGBT Center, one of the largest providers of LGBT programs in the United States, urged Sheriff Alex Villanueva to aggressively investigate Monday's case.
"LGBT people have a considerable and urgent interest in a case that is so clearly linked to the health and safety of our community," said the organization in a statement. "The reports we have heard bring more questions than answers."
Buck distinguished himself for the first time in Arizona in the 1980s, when he led the successful campaign of dismissal of Republican governor Evan Mecham, who had been widely criticized for his critical remarks. the LGBT community and members of racial minority groups. Mecham was removed from office in 1988 because of allegations of misuse of campaign funds, but was acquitted at his criminal trial later in the year.
Buck once again made headlines in 2010 when he heckled Meg Whitman, Republican candidate for the governorship of California. , at a rally in Los Angeles. Chris Christie, then governor of New Jersey, who was at the rally, left the scene and confronted Buck. In an interview with MSNBC at the time, Buck called Christie a bully who was trying to intimidate him.
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