In a long review of the series' claims in The Baltimore Sun, Weinberg said "I think the critics have been far too harsh. The Man Who Exposed The Crips, Bloods & CIA Connection to - YouTube Ricky Donnell "Freeway Rick" Ross (born January 26, 1960) is an American author and convicted drug trafficker best known for the drug empire he established in Los Angeles, California, in the early to mid 1980s. Emma Lee Webb of Crossett, Arkansas | 1947 - 2023 | Obituary The coroner's staff concluded that the second shot hit an artery.[70]. Gary Webb: More Pieces In The Suicided Puzzle - Pt 1 - Rense Webb's ex wife, Susan Bell told reporters that she believed Webb had died by suicide. The story they printed was just awful. At that time, Webb (pictured) was best known for the controversial three-part CIA 1996 expose he wrote the San Jose Mercury News called "Dark Alliance: The Story Behind the . border-bottom: 1px solid #ddd; Work with a bunch of drug dealers to run guns? [39] The Post refused to print his letter. His assignments included investigating racial profiling by the California Highway Patrol and charges that the Oracle Corporation had received a no-bid contract award of $95 million in 2001. The Department of Justice Inspector-General's report was released on July 23, 1998. [50] By January, Webb filed drafts of four more articles based on his trip, but his editors concluded that the new articles would not help shore up the original series's claims. By William Kennedy / Jan. 22, 2023 12:00 pm EST. California senators Barbara Boxer and Dianne Feinstein also took note and wrote to CIA director John Deutch and Attorney General Janet Reno, asking for investigations into the articles' allegations. Webb's reports prompted three official investigations, including one by the CIA itself which - astonishingly for an organisation rarely praised for its transparency - confirmed the substance of his findings (published at length in Webb's 1998 book, also entitled Dark Alliance). Dr. Gary A. Webb is a geriatrician in Marco Island, Florida. When he told me, I said it sounded crazy. His career ended, his livelihood was destroyed and certain games were started to be . Gary Webb - Lake Ridge Chapel & Memorial Designers A 1985 series, "Doctoring the Truth," uncovered problems in the State Medical Board[12] and led to an Ohio House investigation which resulted in major revisions to the state Medical Practice Act. Webb's ex-wife, Sue Bell, discounted theories Tuesday that her husband had been murdered, saying the 49-year-old Webb had been distraught for some time over his inability to get . Born January 3rd, 1943 in Montreal, Quebec, he was the son of the late John Douglas Webb and the late Jeannie (Penny) Hardie Penman. [57], The report covered actions by Department of Justice employees in the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the DEA, the Immigration and Naturalization Service, and U.S. Peter Kornbluh, senior analyst with the George Washington University's National Security Archive, was one of the first to suggest that Webb had overplayed his hand in the Mercury News version of "Dark Alliance". "Exactly," replied Kornbluh, who - referring specifically to the LA Times, said he is "baffled as to how they could be so gullible. [31] In their front-page article, reporters Roberto Suro and Walter Pincus wrote that "available information" did not support the series's claims and that "the rise of crack" was "a broad-based phenomenon" driven in numerous places by diverse players. Evidence Begins To Indicate Gary Webb Was Murdered - BSNEWS The passing of Gary ends more than 50 years with his best friend and loving wife, Marilyn J. Garcia responded by email but declined to speak on the record about the editing process of Webb's series. The legendary civil-rights activist Dick Gregory was arrested while he protested outside the CIA's headquarters; Gregory began referring to the organisation as "Crack in America". [37], In 2013, Jesse Katz, a former Los Angeles Times reporter, said of the newspaper's coverage "As an L.A. Times reporter, we saw this series in the San Jose Mercury News and kind of wonder[ed] how legit it was and kind of put it under a microscope, and we did it in a way that most of us who were involved in it, I think, would look back on that and say it was overkill. Lynn Rd, Ranger WV - Rehold Address Directory [72] A New York Times profile of Webb in June 1997 noted that two of his series written for the Cleveland Plain Dealer had resulted in lawsuits that the paper had settled. Snowfall is an American crime drama television series set in Los Angeles in 1983. Man Donates Liver To Ex-Wife - CBS News On Dec. 9, 2004, the 49-year-old Gary Stephen Webb, Pulitzer prize-winning US investigative journalist, typed out suicide notes to his ex-wife and his three children; he laid out a certificate for his cremation; he taped a note on the door telling movers - who were coming the next morning to move him out of his rental house near Sacramento - to American Journalism Review - Archives We are in the living room of Bell's house just outside Sacramento, California. According to Bell, Webb had been unhappy for some time over his inability to get a job at another major newspaper. This emotive last phrase refers to Webb's experience in the immediate aftermath of publication of his three lengthy articles, in the summer of 1996. Webb's research took a year, in the course of which he received death threats. Gary Webb : Murdered For Exposing The Truth - Educate Inspire Change Working in San Jose would have meant daily contact with what Bell describes as "people he did not want to be with". [7] After transferring to Northern Kentucky, he entered its journalism program and wrote for the school paper, The Northerner. The article discussed Webb's contacts with Ross's attorney and prosecution complaints of how Ross's defense had used Webb's series. } E&P Staff. According to Corn, Webb "was wrong on some important details, but he was, in a way, closer to the truth than many of his establishment media critics who neglected the story of the real CIA-contra-cocaine connection." Webb 'Suicide' Looking More Like Murder - rense.com "[82], Kill the Messenger (2014) is based on Webb's book Dark Alliance and Nick Schou's biography of Webb. "Gary Webb was left to fend for himself. Every year since investigative journalist Gary Webb took his own life in 2004, I have marked the anniversary of that sad event by recalling the debt that American history owes to Webb for his. She and Gary were married from 1979 to 2000 and had three children. A flood of inquiries about Gary Webb's shooting death prompts statement. When removal men arrived, on the morning of 10 December 2004, they found a sign on his front door, which read: ''Please do not enter. After the series's publication, the Northern California branch of the national Society of Professional Journalists voted Webb "Journalist of the Year" for 1996. The first article in "Dark Alliance" that discussed the failure of law enforcement agencies to prosecute Blandn and Meneses had mentioned several cases. The first article, by Katz, developed a different picture of the origins of the crack trade than "Dark Alliance" had described, with more gangs and smugglers participating. 4) The series "created impressions that were open to misinterpretation" through "imprecise language and graphics. Voices: The Gary Webb saga still has lessons today He was sentenced to life in prison, though the sentence was shortened on appeal and Ross was released in 2009. "I think Kerry learnt a lesson from all this," reporter Robert Parry says. GARY WEBB was an investigative reporter who focused on government and private sector corruption and who won more than thirty journalism awards. Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in, Find your bookmarks in your Independent Premium section, under my profile. GARY WEBB: His wife's office was burglarized. padding-left: 10px!important; [8] In 1979, Webb married Susan Bell; the couple eventually had three children. "I am scared," the voice replies. Webb worked for several newspapers including The Kentucky Post and Cleveland Plain Dealer. [29] Waters urged the CIA, the Department of Justice, and the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence to investigate. margin-bottom: 20px; Gary Webb - Wikispooks Maxine Waters found a govt employee ran the South Central LA drug ring & The DOJ removed that section of the report : r/conspiracy 3 yr. ago Posted by shylock92008 Corrie had primary biliary cirrhosis, a genetic liver disease that already had. ", She pauses: "That said, he did sleep with a gun under his bed.". Gary Hays Webb, 78, passed away on Monday May 9, 2022, at ThedaCare Regional Medical Center, Neenah. "He thought I was being cowardly. Gary was born Sept. 4, 1947, to Percy and Pauline (Haas) Webb. Sue remarried two years ago. His death was ruled a suicide by the Sacramento County coroner's office. Webb resigned from The Mercury News in December 1997. "The government side of the story is coming through the Los Angeles Times, The New York Times, The Washington Post", he stated. [68], In August 2004, Webb joined the Sacramento News & Review, an alternative weekly newspaper, where he continued doing investigative writing. Gary Webb's family says his death was Suicide. OR was he like Epstein Gary Webb became, quite unfairly, the victim of one of the most extraordinary examples of piling on by the mainstream press, ever.". His was the story of a man who gains information of wrongdoing, then, attempting to act in the public interest, seeks protection from his superiors, and the forces of law, and does not receive it. margin: 0 45px; A jury awarded the plaintiffs over 13 million dollars and the case was later settled. Views on Webb's journalism have been polarized. I believe that we fell short at every step of our process: in the writing, editing and production of our work. We had this huge team of people at the L.A. Times and kind of piled on to one lone muckraker up in Northern California." color: #ddd; After Ceppos' column, The Mercury News spent the next several months conducting an internal review of the story. Webb strongly disagreed with Ceppos's column and, in interviews, was harshly critical of the paper's handling of the story. In an unprecedented move, the then CIA director John Deutch was dispatched to address community leaders in the Watts district of LA. Obituary | GARY HAYS WEBB of Neenah, Wisconsin | WESTGOR FUNERAL HOMES The drugs went to South Central LA. Few reporters I've known could match his nose for an investigative story. When he was engaged, he worked hard. "[74] Mary Anne Sharkey, Webb's editor at The Plain Dealer, told writer Alicia Shepard in 1997 that Webb was known as 'the carpenter' "because he had everything nailed down. In a three-part series published in the San Jose Mercury News, "Dark Alliance," Webb alleges that not only was the CIA aware cocaine sold in the U.S. during the 1980s was funding the Nicaraguan Contras, they were complicit in its distribution. He was born at Emmanuel Hospital in. Newsweek called Kerry a "randy conspiracy buff". He placed his keys and ID cards on the kitchen table, together with a cremation certificate he had purchased for himself. The Warning in Gary Webb's Death - Consortium News But ultimately, the responsibility was, and is, mine.". Blandn and Meneses were Nicaraguans who smuggled drugs into the U.S. and supplied dealers like Ross. Thank you." Gary Stephen Webb was a Pulitzer prize winning American investigative reporter who exposed cocaine trafficking by the CIA.He wrote for the San Jose Mercury News, which initially backed his articles but later dropped him.Webb was put under pressure most certainly from the CIA under John Deutch for his reporting. The CIA/MSM Contra-Cocaine Cover-up - Consortium News He is from United States. They failed because the climate was more sceptical then. Much of the article highlighted the failure of law enforcement agencies to successfully prosecute them and stated that this was largely due to their Contra and CIA connections. Gary Webb: Vindicated - Narco News "[38], Surprised by The Washington Post article, The Mercury News's executive editor Jerome Ceppos wrote to the Post defending the series. "By the end of his life he was just in a lot of pain," said Webb's ex-wife, Susan Bell. LOS ANGELES, Dec. 12 - Gary Webb, a reporter who won national attention with a series of articles, later discredited, linking the Central Intelligence Agency to the spread of crack . He wrote well. According to the report's "Epilogue," the report was completed in December 1997 but was not released because the DEA was still attempting to use Danilo Blandn in an investigation of international drug dealers and was concerned that the report would affect the viability of the investigation. Gary Webb Obituary (2011) - Saginaw, MI - Saginaw News on MLive.com font-weight:500; [81], Peter Kornbluh, a researcher at George Washington University's National Security Archives, also does not agree that the report vindicated the series. Investigative journalist Gary Webb wrote a series of stories in 1996 for the San Jose Mercury News that documented the US-government-backed Contra insurgents' drug pipeline into Los Angeles. Occupation: Machine Operators, Assemblers, and Inspectors Occupations. I mean - please.". But, Ceppos wrote, the series "did not meet our standards" in four areas. Because the gentile (european caucasian, lepers, fake jews) or white folks agenda has always been to destroy the black man, ever since pharaoh tried to murder Christ by murdering Hebrew babies, until now. Tiffany L Gary-Webb | School of Public Health Their explosive report, which appeared in 1989, was either ignored, or marginalised, by the American press. He is survived by his loving wife, Wendie, of Elgin; grandmother, Eileen Carrier of Elgin;. Nick Schou, a journalist who wrote a 2006 biography of Webb, has claimed that this was the most important error in the series. "Which was that, if he wanted a future within the political establishment of the United States, then he should concentrate on other aspects of life.". 2) The series's estimate of the money involved was presented as fact instead of as an estimate. He was the much-loved father of Lindsay (Stephen . When Webb wrote another story on the raid evidence in early October, it received wide attention in Los Angeles. During and immediately after the controversy over "Dark Alliance," Webb's earlier writing was examined closely. Gary Webb and 'Kill the Messenger': Reporter played by - cleveland .article-native-ad svg { He had sold his house the week before his death because he was unable to afford the mortgage.[71]. .article-native-ad strong { His former wife, her voice lowered to a whisper, explains that Webb missed with the first shot (which exited through his left cheek). He really did believe that," she says. Webb came home and put his belongings in order, dropping his Kentucky Post poster in the bin. In February, Gary Webb gave his ex-wife. (Strawser) Webb. [11], In 1983, Webb moved to the Cleveland Plain Dealer, where he continued doing investigative work. Meneses, an established smuggler and a Contra supporter as well, taught Blandn how to smuggle and provided him with cocaine. Gary's story, however, is far from over and could never be killed by something as trivial as a material bullet. . It was accurate. Webb moved his wife and two young children to a suburb and continued a tradition he had started in Cleveland, restoring their small house with the help of how-to books, installing wainscoting and custom tile, new cabinets and gardens, while putting in overtime at the paper. By the autumn of 1997, on medication for clinical depression, he was given leave of absence from the paper. There was no coffin, casket or tombstone. Ross was a major drug dealer in Los Angeles. "[58], It also concluded that "the claims that Blandn and Meneses were responsible for introducing crack cocaine into South Central Los Angeles and spreading the crack epidemic throughout the country were unsupported." He was so depressed. Instead, he found work in 1978 as a reporter at the Kentucky Post, a local paper affiliated with the larger Cincinnati Post. Susan Bell: a shameful secret history - The Independent It also stated that the Contras may have acted with the knowledge and protection of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). Eli Tomac on track during Media Day at Daytona International Speedway, Friday, March 3, 2023. He went into the bedroom, and picked up a .38 that had belonged to his father. Dispelling the Rumors: Gary Webb's Death Confirmed As Suicide in Central America", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Gary_Webb&oldid=1138520387, This page was last edited on 10 February 2023, at 03:36. [42] The extent of the criticism, however, convinced Ceppos that The Mercury News had to acknowledge to its readers that the series had been subjected to strong criticism. [14] In 1984, Webb wrote a story titled Driving Off With Profits which claimed that the promoters of a race in Cleveland paid themselves nearly a million dollars from funds that should have gone to the city of Cleveland. The truth was that, in all those years, I hadn't written anything important enough to suppress. On Dec. 9, 2004, the 49-year-old Webb typed out suicide notes to his ex-wife and his three children; laid out a certificate for his cremation; and taped a note on the door telling movers, who were . [32], The New York Times published two articles on the series in mid-October, both written by reporter Tim Golden. Two years later, he was promoted to Vice President of Knight Ridder, the Mercury News's parent company; he retired from this position last month. On the last day Webb was alive, his motorbike broke down while he was moving to his mother's house. Cleveland Plain Dealer film critic Clint OConnor had a solid featurethe other day about Kill the Messenger, the journalism true-tale movie opening Friday with Jeremy Renner starring as the late Gary Webb.