Gary Webb's Death Confirmed as Suicide | Editor and Publisher We were dismissed as a bunch of nuts." [29] Waters urged the CIA, the Department of Justice, and the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence to investigate. Ross was also released early after cooperating in an investigation of police corruption, but was rearrested a few months later in a sting operation arranged with Blandn's help. By Sam Stanton Bee Staff Writer Published 2:15 am PST Wednesday, December 15, 2004. . Webb, Gary Gary T. Webb, age 67, of Hamilton, Michigan, passed away peacefully surrounded by his loving family Thursday, November 11, 2021. Leen, who covered the cocaine trade for the Miami Herald in the 1980s, rejects the claim that "because the report uncovered an agency mindset of indifference to drug-smuggling allegations", it vindicated Webb's reporting. [46] Overholser was harshly critical of the series, "reported by a seemingly hotheaded fellow willing to have people leap to conclusions his reporting couldn't back up." I'm glad that I didn't dissuade him, because it was important to get the truth out but for Gary Webb, there was a very high price to pay." "[75], Jonathan Krim, The Mercury News editor who recruited Webb from The Plain Dealer and who supervised The Mercury News internal review of "Dark Alliance," told AJR editor Paterno that Webb "had all the qualities you'd want in a reporter: curious, dogged, a very high sense of wanting to expose wrongdoing and to hold private and public officials accountable." Taken during the London Open House 2014 event. His. [61] According to the report, it used Webb's reporting and writing as "key resources in focusing and refining the investigation." His corpse was discovered on the seventh anniversary of his resignation from the Mercury News. Dr. Gary A. Webb is a geriatrician in Marco Island, Florida. Do something else with your life," the voice urges. Webb's series was published on the Mercury News's fledgling website, but it wasn't exactly an instant sensation. Cooper and Mariah were engaged before they finally tied the knot. 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 Garry Webb wrote the 1996 "Dark Alliance" series for the San Jose. And the importance of exposing them. In May 1997, after an internal review, Ceppos stated that, although the story was right on many important points, there were shortcomings in the writing, editing and production of the series. She said the paper wanted to make up for what it had done in the past. Webb 'Suicide' Looking More Like Murder - rense.com Contemporary discussions of the series are discussed in the section on, Webb 2011, "Caltrans Ignored Elevated Freeway Safety. After a local newspaper reported that Webb had died from multiple gunshots, the coroner's office received so many calls asking about Webb's death that Sacramento County Coroner Robert Lyons issued a statement confirming Webb had died by suicide. He really did believe that," she says. Gary Webb passed away on March 2, 2019. Many writers discussing the series point to errors in it. The third article discussed the social effects of the crack trade, noting that it had a disparate effect on African-Americans. Gary Webb was at his desk in the Mercury News's Sacramento office, in July 1995, when he received a message to call Coral Baca, a Hispanic woman from the San Francisco Bay area, allegedly connected to a Colombian drug cartel. "[72] California Representative Maxine Waters, who was Webb's strongest supporter in Congress after the "Dark Alliance" controversy broke, issued a statement after Webb's death calling him "one of the finest investigative journalists that our country has ever seen. } Gary Webb and the Iran-Contra-Cocaine Connection | WilderUtopia And it was ignored by the US media, for all of those reasons. The CIA/MSM Contra-Cocaine Cover-up - Consortium News The passing of Gary ends more than 50 years with his best friend and loving wife, Marilyn J. Views on Webb's journalism have been polarized. And this is not a happy story - or," she adds, "a little one.". 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. E&P Staff. Webb worked for several newspapers including The Kentucky Post and Cleveland Plain Dealer. 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. The series examined the origins of the crack cocaine trade in Los Angeles and claimed that members of the anti-communist Contra rebels in Nicaragua had played a major role in creating the trade, using cocaine profits to finance their fight against the government in Nicaragua. He wrote well. I felt she really trashed me. According to Bell, Webb had been unhappy for some time over his inability to get a job at another major newspaper. . "[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." "[55] In June 1997, The Mercury News told Webb it was transferring him from the paper's Sacramento bureau and offered him a choice between working at the main offices in San Jose under closer editorial supervision, or spot reporting in Cupertino; both locations were long commutes from his home in Sacramento. Even 10 years after his tragic death, the media refuse to let him rest. Webb is best known for his "Dark Alliance" series, which appeared in The Mercury News in 1996. How Kill the Messenger Will Vindicate Investigative Journalist Gary Webb [52] Webb was allowed to keep working on the story and made one more trip to Nicaragua in March. She was a native of Minden, LA, but a resident of Crossett for 65 years. [67], Webb later moved to the State Assembly's Office of Majority Services. ", "After Gary died," she says, "a reporter from the LA Times came here. [7] After transferring to Northern Kentucky, he entered its journalism program and wrote for the school paper, The Northerner. Gary Hays (304) 778-7090: 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. 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. When it did, beginning with The Washington Post, it shocked Webb's critics as much as his many admirers. He died on December 10, 2004 in Carmichael, California, USA. [51] After discussions with Webb, the column was published on May 11, 1997.[53]. The coroner's staff concluded that the second shot hit an artery.[70]. [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. Gary Webb - Wikispooks Gary Webb | Okanogan Valley Gazette-Tribune Dark Alliance: Gary Webb, Christian Rummel: 9781522694397: Amazon.com Gary Webb | Obituary | The Daily Item 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. Webb established incontrovertible links * between Ricky Ross and Blandn who, two years later, would betray Ross to the authorities. Part of what makes OConnors article so compelling are the candid thoughts of Webbs former wife Sue Stokes. But Webb had one huge blind side: He was fundamentally a man of passion, not of fairness. Her husband began his career on The Kentucky Post, and rapidly proved himself to be the sort of character who can be a secretive agency's worst nightmare: a full-blooded provocateur who liked to put the hours in at the library. "And to an extent, they succeeded.". 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? If you work through friendly reporters on major newspapers, it comes off as The New York Times saying it and not a mouthpiece of the CIA. Celebrezze eventually sued the Plain Dealer and won an undisclosed out of court settlement. When Attorney General Janet Reno determined that a delay was no longer necessary, the report was released unaltered. It would have been our 25th wedding anniversary," Bell recalls. Gary Webb sums up the story in his last major interview just days before his death. "That's right," says Blum. I remain astounded by the editorial decisions they made.". 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 [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. When Gary originally broke this mind blowing story, the arrogant authority's assumed they could simply ignore him and hope he'd go away. I mean - please.". [68], In August 2004, Webb joined the Sacramento News & Review, an alternative weekly newspaper, where he continued doing investigative writing. How Gary Webb Linked The CIA To The Crack Epidemic - All That's Interesting Evidence Begins To Indicate Gary Webb Was Murdered - BSNEWS When his body was found, The Good, the Bad and the Ugly was on the DVD machine, and his favourite CD, Ian Hunter's live album Welcome to the Club, was in the CD player. Tiffany L Gary-Webb | School of Public Health 71K views 8 years ago Gary Webb's son Ian talks about the film in which Jeremy Renner plays his late journalist father. On one road trip, in 2001, he came off the motorcycle and split his helmet open. According to the report, the Inspector-General's office (OIG) examined all information the agency had "relating to CIA knowledge of drug trafficking allegations in regard to any person directly or indirectly involved in Contra activities." [65], After leaving The Mercury News, Webb worked as an investigator for the California State Legislature. ", In contrast, the series received support from Steve Weinberg, a former executive director of Investigative Reporters and Editors. Lynn Rd, Ranger WV - Rehold Address Directory Instead, he found work in 1978 as a reporter at the Kentucky Post, a local paper affiliated with the larger Cincinnati Post. 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 . While police were preparing the case against her boyfriend, Baca alleged, officers had disclosed documents which revealed that one of her lover's associates had been working for the Contras. His former wife, her voice lowered to a whisper, explains that Webb missed with the first shot (which exited through his left cheek). [65], Within "The Mighty Wurlitzer Plays On" essay Webb stated he believed there was an active "collusion between the press and the powerful" to report freely on inconsequential matters, "but when it comes to the real down and dirty stuff We begin to see the limits of our freedoms". He was born June 18, 1943, in Appleton, son of the late Wilford and Helen (Hauskey) Webb. If he could have chosen his own epitaph, it might have been a line from the letter he posted to Bell, immediately before he killed himself: "I do not regret," Webb told her, "anything that I have written." "Gary didn't take her seriously," says Susan Bell, "because he was always getting calls alleging weird stuff about the CIA. "[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]. padding-left: 10px!important; The Los Angeles Times and other major papers published articles suggesting the "Dark Alliance" claims were overstated and, in November 1996, Jerome Ceppos, the executive editor at Mercury News, wrote about being "in the eye of the storm". That wouldn't have happened if he hadn't been willing to stand up and risk it all.". 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. His series of articles - which prompted the distinguished reporter and former Newsweek Washington correspondent Robert Parry to describe Webb as "an American hero" - incited fury among the African-American community, many of whom took his investigation as proof that the White House saw crack as a way of bringing genocide to the ghetto. I ask Bell. [43] He did this in a column that appeared on November 3, defending the series, but also committing the paper to a review of major criticisms. The second article described Blandn's background and how he began smuggling cocaine to support the Contras. "To get back at his editors?". This support "was not directed by anyone within the Contra movement who had an association with the CIA," and the Committee found "no evidence that the CIA or the Intelligence Community was aware of these individuals support. Gary Webb - Wikipedia ", She pauses: "That said, he did sleep with a gun under his bed.". For two years, Blum and Kerry supervised the interrogation of dozens of witnesses who described CIA-related drug deals in central America. By the end of September, three federal investigations had been announced: an investigation into the CIA allegations conducted by CIA Inspector-General Frederick Hitz, an investigation into the law enforcement allegations by Justice Department Inspector-General Michael Bromwich, and a second investigation into the CIA by the House Intelligence Committee. He made that very clear. [44], Ceppos' column drew editorial responses from both The New York Times and The Washington Post. He was laid off in February 2004 when Assembly Member Fabian Nez was elected Speaker. [60], It found no information to support the claim that the agency interfered with law enforcement actions against Ross, Blandn or Meneses. "It sounds crazy," says Bell, "but having his motorbike stolen was the last straw. Gary Webb - Biography - IMDb 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. Gary Webb - Spartacus Educational The drugs went to South Central LA. "By the end of his life he was just in a lot of pain," said Webb's ex-wife, Susan Bell. 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. The CIA, the drug dealers, and the tragedy of Gary Webb - The Telegraph 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. His death was especially traumatic to the family since - as the coroner said - it could not be established whether he died instantly, or bled to death. Gary Webb Biography, Age, Height, Wife, Net Worth, Family Although he attended Northern Kentucky for four years, he did not finish his degree. He cites the case of Alfred McCoy, now Professor of South East Asian Studies at the University of Wisconsin. The collection, The Killing Game: Selected Stories from the Author of Dark Alliance, was edited by Webb's son, Eric. Save 50% with early-bird passes. He was taken to hospital by air ambulance. He kept saying that he would never get another job in journalism.". 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. In the six years he worked at its Sacramento office, he won the HL Mencken award, for a story exposing corruption in California's drug enforcement agency, and his Pulitzer prize - won jointly, as part of a Mercury News team covering the 1990 Loma Prieta earthquake. He also stated "the series presented dangerous ideas" by suggesting "crimes of state had been committed" (i.e. Gary Webb's wife, Sue Webb (now Sue Stokes), said that he had been depressed for years due to his inability to get hired at a daily newspaper. [48] Despite the controversy that soon overtook the series, and the request of one board member to reconsider, the branch's board went ahead with the award in November. In the column, Ceppos defended parts of the article, writing that the series had "solidly documented" that the drug ring described in the series did have connections with the Contras and did sell large quantities of cocaine in inner-city Los Angeles. [4] When Webb's father retired from the Marines, the family settled in a suburb of Indianapolis, where Webb and his brother attended high school. }. When facts didn't fit his theory, he tended to shove them to the sidelines. During and immediately after the controversy over "Dark Alliance," Webb's earlier writing was examined closely. ", The report called several of its findings "troubling." Gary Webb's son on new movie "Kill the Messenger" - YouTube It found that Blandn received permanent resident status "in a wholly improper manner" and that for some time the Department "was not certain whether to prosecute Meneses, or use him as a cooperating witness." When his medical insurance expired, he stopped taking his antidepressants. It was good that his story forced those reports to come out, but part of what made that happen was based on misleading information. [13] Webb then moved to the paper's statehouse bureau, where he covered statewide issues and won numerous regional journalism awards. Noting that most of the activities discussed in the report had nothing to do with the people Webb reported on, Kornbluh told Schou, "I can't say it's a vindication. "Back then. Gary Webb and 'Kill the Messenger': Reporter played by - cleveland Famously known by the Family name Gary Stephen Webb, was a great Engineer.He was born on August 31, 1955, in Carmichael, California.Carmichael is a beautiful and populous city located in Carmichael, California United States of America.. Gary Webb Early Life Story, Family Background and Education. 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. 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. He placed his keys and ID cards on the kitchen table, together with a cremation certificate he had purchased for himself. Can these things possibly be? Film of this encounter survives. ", "Reporter's suicide confirmed by coroner", "Repercussions From Flawed News Articles", "Herhold: Thinking back on journalist Gary Webb and the CIA", Ex-L.A. Times Writer Apologizes for "Tawdry" Attacks, "Gary Webb was no journalism hero, despite what 'Kill the Messenger' says", "Jeremy Renner's 'Kill the Messenger' Gets Fall Release Date", The CIA-Contra-Crack Cocaine Controversy: A Review of the Justice Department's Investigations and Prosecutions, United States Department of Justice Office of the Inspector General, Report of Investigation Concerning Allegations of Connections Between CIA and The Contras in Cocaine Trafficking to the United States, Central Intelligence Agency Office of the Inspector General, United States Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, International Journal of Intelligence and Counterintelligence, "Secrecy, Conspiracy, and the Media During the CIA-Contra Affair", Freeway Rick Ross: The Untold Autobiography, "Inside the Dark Alliance: Gary Webb on the CIA, the Contras, and the Crack Cocaine Explosion", 'A NATURAL STORY': Tribute to 'Dark Alliance' and Journalist Gary Webb, San Francisco Bay Area Independent Media Center, Archive of Gary Webb stories at Sacramento News and Review, "Frontline: Cocaine, Conspiracy Theories & the C.I.A. His erstwhile editors on the Mercury News, meanwhile, saw their careers thrive. His career ended, his livelihood was destroyed and certain games were started to be . Cooper Webb Wife Name Revealed. The series ran from October 2022, 1996, and was researched by a team of 17 reporters. There is a CIA connection and I can demonstrate it.'". Gary Webb (304) 778-2546: Jamie Webb (304) 778-2546: Status: Homeowner. Gary Webb on the CIA's Role in the 1980s LA Crack Epidemic - Citizen Truth 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. He had sold his house the week before his death because he was unable to afford the mortgage.[71]. padding-bottom: 20px; The article discussed Webb's contacts with Ross's attorney and prosecution complaints of how Ross's defense had used Webb's series. Gary Webb | American journalist | Britannica Garcia responded by email but declined to speak on the record about the editing process of Webb's series. The new movie Kill the Messenger, based in part on a 2006 book by a former student of mine, eulogizes Webb . Gary Stephen Webb (August 31, 1955 December 10, 2004) was an American investigative journalist. It was an amazing scoop - but one that would ruin his career and drive him to suicide. He said: 'No. It sounds like a Tom Clancy novel, right? [56] He resigned from the paper in November 1997. [26] Other papers were slow to pick up the story, but African Americans quickly took note, especially in South Central Los Angeles where the dealers discussed in the series had been active. Gary Stephen Webb(August 31, 1955 - December 10, 2004) was an American investigative journalist. The story was picked up by black talk-radio stations. "[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. Shortly before I left for Sacramento, Moreira, who knew Webb, had shown me unbroadcast footage which shows the French reporter making a phone call to a media commentator in the US, asking him about Webb's death. 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. [45], The Post's response came from the paper's ombudsman, Geneva Overholser. font-size: 34px; Sheriff: Fatal Blue Grass house fire rule 'undetermined, but accidental' Unable to get work from any major US newspaper, he spent the four months before his death writing for * a free-sheet covering the Sacramento area. Gary Webb: Vindicated - Narco News But "Dark Alliance" was also posted on the Mercury News's website, with the image of a crack smoker superimposed on the CIA badge. [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. An editorial in the Times, while criticizing the series for making "unsubstantiated charges", conceded that it did find "drug-smuggling and dealing by Nicaraguans with at least tentative connections to the Contras" and called for further investigation. What he found, he wrote later, "nearly knocked me off my chair". 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. Webb's continuing reporting also triggered a fourth investigation. By: E&P Staff The death of investigative reporter Gary Webb has been confirmed as a suicide, according to a coroner's statement. [35] The second article, by McManus, was the longest of the series and dealt with the role of the Contras in the drug trade and CIA knowledge of drug activities by the Contras. Dec. 13, 2004. 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. "Although Ross had become a millionaire by 1984," Katz now wrote, "the market was so huge by then that even a dealer of his stature could seem dwarfed How the crack epidemic reached that extreme, on some level," he continues, "had nothing to do with Ross". "I told Gary not to go near this story," his source replies, in an emotional voice. It also examined "how CIA handled and responded to information regarding allegations of drug trafficking" by people involved in Contra activities or support. [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. [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. Osborn, Barbara Bliss (MarchApril 1998). When I first heard the news, I tell Bell, I was inclined to believe the conspiracy theories that still proliferate on the internet, suggesting that Webb had been assassinated - either by one of the drug dealers he'd met while writing Dark Alliance, or by the intelligence services who were supposed to police them. 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. The first one, "The California Story," was issued in a classified version on December 17, 1997, and in an unclassified version on January 29, 1998. Return of the messenger: How Jeremy Renner's new film Kill The "He told the guys with him he was fine," she recalls, "got back on the bike, then passed out, half an hour later. The response from the American press took two months to arrive. Corrie had primary biliary cirrhosis, a genetic liver disease that already had. *, 'Dark Alliance: The CIA, The Contras and the Crack Cocaine Explosion' is published in the UK by Seven Stories Press, priced 11.99, Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies. Calling the Post's overall focus "misplaced", Overholser expressed regret that the paper had not taken the opportunity to re-examine whether the CIA had overlooked Contra involvement in drug smuggling, "a subject The Post and the public had given short shrift.
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