"Gary didn't take her seriously," says Susan Bell, "because he was always getting calls alleging weird stuff about the CIA. 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 . She acted opposite Dirk Bogarde in the groundbreaking film Victim (Basil Dearden, 1961), as the unsuspecting wife of a barrister who is a closet homosexual. "The cause of death was determined to be self . [68], In August 2004, Webb joined the Sacramento News & Review, an alternative weekly newspaper, where he continued doing investigative writing. ". "I think Kerry learnt a lesson from all this," reporter Robert Parry says. Gary Webb : Murdered For Exposing The Truth - Educate Inspire Change They failed because the climate was more sceptical then. "I told Gary not to go near this story," his source replies, in an emotional voice. Webb joined the Mercury News in 1988, via the Cleveland Plain Dealer. He received his medical degree from American University of the Caribbean School of Medicine and has been in practice for more than. Jeff Leen, assistant managing editor for investigative reporting at The Washington Post, wrote in a 2014 opinion page article that "the report found no CIA relationship with the drug ring Webb had written about." Family (1) [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. It was accurate. Webb's corpse was found in the bedroom, with two gunshot wounds to the head. [63]Dark Alliance was a 1998 Pen/Newman's Own First Amendment Award Finalist, 1998 San Francisco Chronicle bestseller, 1999 Bay Area Book Reviewers Award Finalist, and 1999 Firecracker Alternative Booksellers Award Winner in the Politics category. The Department of Justice Inspector-General's report was released on July 23, 1998. . 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". Webb - whose article had never alleged that the CIA deliberately targeted any ethnic group - became a national celebrity. To show this, the series focused on three men: Ricky Ross, Oscar Danilo Blandn, and Norwin Meneses. "Gary was 18 and I was 16 when we first met and started dating in Indianapolis," said Sue Stokes. Film of this encounter survives. 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". The Man Who Exposed The Crips, Bloods & CIA Connection to - YouTube In August of 1996, investigative journalist Gary Webb broke the biggest story of his life. E&P Staff. Dark Alliance: Gary Webb, Christian Rummel: 9781522694397: Amazon.com In February last year he was laid off by the State Legislature. margin: 0 45px; "You sound very scared," Moreira remarks. 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. margin-bottom: 20px; It was written by Jesse Katz, the same reporter who, less than two years earlier, had described Ross's conglomerate as "the Wal-Mart of crack dealing". He cites the case of Alfred McCoy, now Professor of South East Asian Studies at the University of Wisconsin. Return of the messenger: How Jeremy Renner's new film Kill The [17] The Mercury News's coverage of the earthquake won its staff the Pulitzer Prize for General News Reporting in 1990. Nobody who heads a government agency can let such an allegation stand.". Start your Independent Premium subscription today. Working in San Jose would have meant daily contact with what Bell describes as "people he did not want to be with". [51], The editors met with Webb several times in February to discuss the results of the paper's internal review and eventually decided to print neither Carey's draft article nor the articles Webb had filed. In city after city, local dealers either bought from Ross or got left behind."[24]. Gary Webb on the CIA's Role in the 1980s LA Crack Epidemic - Citizen Truth He is from United States. Kill the Messenger True Story vs. Movie - Real Gary Webb "The government side of the story is coming through the Los Angeles Times, The New York Times, The Washington Post", he stated. . } George Webb and Paul Cottrell have begun a weekly series on CoronaVirus now, Mondays at 5PM, EST on paul Cottrell's Rumble Channel. [36] McManus wrote that Blandn's and Meneses's contributions to Contra organizations were significantly less than the "millions" claimed in the series, and stated there was no evidence that the CIA had tried to protect them. Look at the way the US press reports on Iraq. Emma Lee Webb. "Report on Alleged Involvement: Findings" 43. The Warning in Gary Webb's Death - Consortium News [65], After leaving The Mercury News, Webb worked as an investigator for the California State Legislature. Webb's experience came as no surprise to Jack Blum, senior prosecutor for the Kerry Committee. A time of fellowship and remembrance is scheduled from 6 to 8 p.m. on Wednesday, March 6, 2019, at Lake Ridge Chapel and Memorial Designers. [18], Webb began researching "Dark Alliance" in July 1995. Gary Webb famously died of two gun shot wounds to the head and - reddit At the commemorative service for Webb, held at the Doubletree Hotel in Sacramento, Bell read out the letter Webb had written to his son Eric, now 17. It sounds like a Tom Clancy novel, right? He was found dead on Friday morning in what the police said was an apparent suicide. Taken during the London Open House 2014 event. After the series's publication, the Northern California branch of the national Society of Professional Journalists voted Webb "Journalist of the Year" for 1996. [62], Examining the support that Meneses and Blandn gave to the local Contra organization in San Francisco, the report concluded that it was "not sufficient to finance the organization" and did not consist of "millions," contrary to the claims of the "Dark Alliance" series. So, how much is Gary Webb worth at the age of 49 years old? padding:0!important; The third article, by Mitchell and Fulwood, covered the effects of crack on African-Americans and how it affected their reaction to some of the rumors that arose after the "Dark Alliance" series. He said: 'No. An investigative journalist, Webb became interested in the covert activities of the Central Intelligence Agency. He told me: 'If I can't do what I want to do, what's the point?' By: E&P Staff The death of investigative reporter Gary Webb has been confirmed as a suicide, according to a coroner's statement. His corpse was discovered on the seventh anniversary of his resignation from the Mercury News. There is a CIA connection and I can demonstrate it.'". He was laid off in February 2004 when Assembly Member Fabian Nez was elected Speaker. "[62] It also found no evidence to support Webb's suggestion that several other drug smugglers mentioned in the series were associated with the CIA, or that anyone associated with the CIA or other intelligence agencies was involved in supplying or selling drugs in Los Angeles.[62]. In a 2013 article in the LA Weekly, Schou wrote that Webb was "vindicated by a 1998 CIA Inspector General report, which revealed that for more than a decade the agency had covered up a business relationship it had with Nicaraguan drug dealers like Blandn. [71] "The way he was acting it would be hard for me to believe it was anything but suicide," she said. Newsweek called Kerry a "randy conspiracy buff". Voices: The Gary Webb saga still has lessons today [56] He resigned from the paper in November 1997. Webb became a staff reporter for the San Jose Mercury News in 1988. When it did, beginning with The Washington Post, it shocked Webb's critics as much as his many admirers. [49], The paper also gave Webb permission to visit Central America again to get more evidence supporting the story. We are in the living room of Bell's house just outside Sacramento, California. "[2], Ceppos noted that Webb did not agree with these conclusions. And he finallyyou know, they finally left the country. The February 2000 report by the House Intelligence Committee in turn considered the book's claims as well as the series' claims. In February, Gary Webb gave his ex-wife. 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 . It concluded, however, that these problems were "a far cry from the type of broad manipulation and corruption of the federal criminal justice system suggested by the original allegations.". Cuts and amendments were made at the request of Ceppos, executive editor of the Mercury News, and Webb's immediate editor Dawn Garcia, among others. "[38], Surprised by The Washington Post article, The Mercury News's executive editor Jerome Ceppos wrote to the Post defending the series. I ask Bell. I felt weak and distressed; the whole thing was so fresh. But while calling the flaws in the series "unforgivably careless journalism," Overholser also criticized the Post's refusal to print Ceppos' letter defending the series and sharply criticized the Post's coverage of the story. By a fortunate coincidence of timing, the report was released on a day when the Monica Lewinsky scandal dominated every front page in the country. After Webb's death, a collection of his stories from before and after the "Dark Alliance" series was published. His erstwhile editors on the Mercury News, meanwhile, saw their careers thrive. In a long review of the series' claims in The Baltimore Sun, Weinberg said "I think the critics have been far too harsh. After his resignation from The Mercury News, Webb expanded the "Dark Alliance" series into a book that responded to the criticism of the series and described his experiences writing the story and dealing with the controversy. "If I had one dream for you," he wrote, "it was that you would go into journalism and carry on the kind of work I did - fighting, with all your might, the oppression and bigotry and stupidity and greed that surrounds us. Webb, a Pullitzer prize winning journalist, exposed CIA drug trafficking operations in a series of books and reports for the San Jose Mercury News. Webb, according to Bell, was a man who, more than most, found that his mood and self-esteem fluctuated in accordance with his professional fortunes. Webb's continuing reporting also triggered a fourth investigation. Gary Webb Obituary (1954 - 2021) - Dorr, MI - Grand Rapids Press When he told me, I said it sounded crazy. If the antagonism of competing publications was predictable, what happened to Webb within his own newspaper was not. In and out of work, he had a reputation for taking risks. In the final few months of his life, Bell says, Webb became increasingly withdrawn. Gary Douglas Webb of Radnor, PA, passed away on October 19, 2021 Born January 3rd, 1943 in Montreal, Quebec, he was the son of the late John Douglas Webb and the late Jeannie (Penny) Hardie. Gary Webb's "Approach Split" in the atrium of 20 Triton Street London. "You do not understand the power of these people," he adds, referring to the US intelligence services. But as Krim told Webb's biographer Nick Schou, "The zeal that helped make Gary a relentless reporter was coupled with an inability to question himself, to entertain the notion that he might have erred. Webb's condition exacerbated his natural recklessness. "If there was an eye to the storm," Katz wrote, "if there was a mastermind behind crack's decade-long reign, if there was one outlaw most responsible for flooding LA's streets with mass-marketed cocaine, his name was Freeway Rick. Webb, whose plans to become a journalist had begun when he was 13, but never included equine death notices, resigned from the Mercury News a few months later. He was so depressed. 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. She and Gary were married from 1979 to 2000 and had three children. [6], Webb first began writing for the student newspaper at his college in Indianapolis. Gary was born Sept. 4, 1947, to Percy and Pauline (Haas) Webb. Cooper and Mariah were engaged before they finally tied the knot. Gary Webb - Wikipedia When Gary originally broke this mind blowing story, the arrogant authority's assumed they could simply ignore him and hope he'd go away. The article suggested this was in retribution for Ross' testimony in the corruption case. [60], The House Intelligence Committee issued its report in February 2000. Celebrezze eventually sued the Plain Dealer and won an undisclosed out of court settlement. [81], Peter Kornbluh, a researcher at George Washington University's National Security Archives, also does not agree that the report vindicated the series. The Mercury News reporter came under sustained attack from the weightier US newspapers such as The New York Times, The Washington Post and, especially, the Los Angeles Times, infuriated at being scooped, on its own patch, by what it saw as a small-town paper. Save 50% with early-bird passes. The CIA admits used the media to ruin his career. Webb's ex-wife, Stokes, now remarried and still living in Sacramento, had heard it all before, too. Evidence Begins To Indicate Gary Webb Was Murdered - BSNEWS Gary Webb Biography, Age, Height, Wife, Net Worth, Family padding-left: 10px!important; Gary Webb - Wikispooks In a three-part expos, investigative journalist Gary Webb reported that a guerrilla army in Nicaragua had used crack cocaine sales in Los Angeles' black neighborhoods to fund an attempted coup of Nicaragua's socialist government in the 1980s and that the CIA had purposefully funded it. [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. [41], When the Los Angeles Times series appeared, Ceppos again wrote to defend the original series. font-size: 34px; And it ruined that reporter's career. [69], Webb was found dead in his Carmichael home on December 10, 2004, with two gunshot wounds to the head. When Webb pressed the Mercury News to allow him to investigate the LA connection further, his own newspaper issued a retraction which earned its editor, Jerry Ceppos, wide praise from rival publications, but effectively disowned Webb, who then suffered the kind of corporate lynching that reporters are usually expected to dispense rather than endure. There were no offers. His father was a Marine sergeant, and the family moved frequently, as his career took him to new assignments. And this is not a happy story - or," she adds, "a little one.". According to Walt Bogdanich, a former colleague on the Plain Dealer who has won two Pulitzers and now works for The New York Times, Webb was the best retriever of information from public records he has ever seen. ", She pauses: "That said, he did sleep with a gun under his bed.". He recently told the American Journalism Review (whose scrupulously researched piece, by Susan Paterno, is the only serious documentation of the Webb case I could find anywhere in the orthodox American media) that Webb's critics in rival newspapers, "quoted these CIA guys - who had a tremendous amount to hide - as though they were telling the truth. [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. His death was ruled a suicide by the Sacramento County coroner's office. Webb had become, as somebody put it, "radioactive". He wrote well. He began his career working for newspapers in Kentucky and Ohio, winning numerous awards, and building a strong reputation for investigative writing. Sheriff: Fatal Blue Grass house fire rule 'undetermined, but accidental' "Like enjoy it.". According to Schou, the investigation "confirmed key chunks of Webb's 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). Gary Webb - Spartacus Educational The feeling was that with other news outlets calling for Webb's head, the paper's credibility depended on their joining in on the attacks. This drug ring "opened the first pipeline between Colombia's cocaine cartels and the black neighborhoods of Los Angeles" and, as a result, "The cocaine that flooded in helped spark a crack explosion in urban America."[23]. He was preceded in death by his wife, Melody Webb; parents and three brothers, Albert, Duane and Ronald. Webb 'Suicide' Looking More Like Murder - rense.com "[25] It also found disparities in the treatment of Black and White traffickers in the justice system, contrasting the treatment of Blandn and Ross after their arrests for drug trafficking. WEBB, Mr. Gary Lee, our beloved son, husband, father, grandfather, brother and uncle went home with his heavenly Father Monday, August 29, 2011 at University of Michigan Hospital. line-height:1.5; 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. Vivian Corrie, a part of his liver in a life-threatening operation. "Exactly," replied Kornbluh, who - referring specifically to the LA Times, said he is "baffled as to how they could be so gullible. [55] Webb eventually chose Cupertino, but was unhappy with the routine stories he was reporting there and the long commute. .article-native-ad svg { Webb was born in Corona, California. A series of expose articles in the San Jose Mercury-News by reporter Gary Webb told tales of a drug triangle during the 1980s that linked CIA officials in Central America, a San Francisco drug . The new movie Kill the Messenger, based in part on a 2006 book by a former student of mine, eulogizes Webb . Both sides were left angry and disappointed. "Back then. Relationships with other women ended badly. [21] This artwork proved controversial, and The Mercury News later removed it. Like Schou, Corn cites the inspector general's report, which he says "acknowledged that the CIA had indeed worked with suspected drugrunners (sic) while supporting the contras. When she got indignant," she adds, "he went to meet her.". The first shot went through his face, and exited at his left cheek. [60], It found nothing to support the claim that "the drug trafficking activities of Blandn and Meneses were motivated by any commitment to support the Contra cause or Contra activities undertaken by CIA." [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. Webb followed up Baca's leads at the California State Library, examining Congressional records and FBI reports. .article-native-ad strong { There was no coffin, casket or tombstone. The collection, The Killing Game: Selected Stories from the Author of Dark Alliance, was edited by Webb's son, Eric. Jeremy Renner as Gary Webb How Kill the Messenger Will Vindicate Investigative Journalist Gary Webb Melinda Welsh September 29, 2014 This one has all the ingredients of a dreamed-up Hollywood. Gary Webb famously died of two gun shot wounds to the head and his death that was ruled a suicide, is the common sense notion that this was clearly assassination true? He was taken to hospital by air ambulance. She kept crying about how terrible it all was - by which I mean that she was, physically, crying. The film broadened the debate which led to the decriminalisation of . Garry Webb wrote the 1996 "Dark Alliance" series for the San Jose. Gary's story, however, is far from over and could never be killed by something as trivial as a material bullet. Webb, one of the boldest and most outstanding reporters of his generation, was the journalist who, in 1996, established the connection between the CIA and major drug dealers in Los Angeles, some of whose profits had been channelled to fund the Contra guerrilla movement in Nicaragua. Walter Bogdanich, a Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter who worked with Webb on The Plain Dealer, told American Journalism Review editor Susan Paterno "He was brilliant; he knew more about public records than anybody I've ever known. His. It also examined "how CIA handled and responded to information regarding allegations of drug trafficking" by people involved in Contra activities or support. "By the end of his life he was just in a lot of pain," said Webb's ex-wife, Susan Bell. Webb resigned from The Mercury News in December 1997. He stayed home, playing computer games, and began smoking cannabis heavily. Webb's series was published on the Mercury News's fledgling website, but it wasn't exactly an instant sensation.

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