The first shot went through his face, and exited at his left cheek. 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. 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. George Webb and Paul Cottrell have begun a weekly series on CoronaVirus now, Mondays at 5PM, EST on paul Cottrell's Rumble Channel. 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." But as his ex-wife told the . [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. 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. Dr. Gary A. Webb, MD | Marco Island, FL | Geriatrician | US News Doctors Webb became a staff reporter for the San Jose Mercury News in 1988. Although Blandn's cartel was undoubtedly one of the first to bring crack to LA, Webb was almost certainly suffering a rush of blood when he described the group as "the first pipeline" into the city. There were no offers. . But "Dark Alliance" was also posted on the Mercury News's website, with the image of a crack smoker superimposed on the CIA badge. "As a PhD student, McCoy went to Vietnam and built an absolutely damning case about the CIA's involvement with trafficking heroin. }. When he was engaged, he worked hard. Webb's continuing reporting also triggered a fourth investigation. [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. He wrote that the series likely "oversimplified" the crack epidemic in America and the supposed "critical role" the dealers written about in the series played in it. Gary Webb was a journalist of outsized talent. By the autumn of 1997, on medication for clinical depression, he was given leave of absence from the paper. [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." Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in, Please refresh your browser to be logged in, Extra 20% off selected fashion and sportswear at Very, Up to 20% off & extra perks with Booking.com Genius Membership, $6 off a $50+ order with this AliExpress discount code, 10% off selected orders over 100 - eBay discount code, Compare broadband packages side by side to find the best deal for you, Compare cheap broadband deals from providers with fastest speed in your area, All you need to know about fibre broadband, Best Apple iPhone Deals in the UK March 2023, Compare iPhone contract deals and get the best offer this March, Compare the best mobile phone deals from the top networks and brands. Gary Webb, Into the Buzzsaw, CH 13, Prometheus Books. "And to an extent, they succeeded.". Kill the Messenger review - what really happened to Gary Webb n 1996, journalist Gary Webb wrote a series of articles under the title "Dark Alliance" for the suggesting a CIA connection between anti-government contras in Nicaragua and monies raised from. Gary Webb, MD, FRCPC, FACC - The Donohue Funeral Homes Inc. 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 font-weight:500; Join iconic brands and world-class marketing leaders at Brandweek to unlock powerful insights and impact-driven strategies. Blandn and Meneses were Nicaraguans who smuggled drugs into the U.S. and supplied dealers like Ross. Writing on the Los Angeles Times opinion page, Schou said, "Webb asserted, improbably, that the Blandn-Meneses-Ross drug ring opened 'the first pipeline between Colombia's cocaine cartels and the black neighborhoods of Los Angeles,' helping to 'spark a crack explosion in urban America.' For instance, he published an article on racial profiling in traffic stops in Esquire magazine, in April 1999. Ceppos and Garcia have long since lost any taste for public discussion of "Dark Alliance". Gary Webb famously died of two gun shot wounds to the head and - reddit Gary is survived by his loving wife of 41 years, Barbara; their son, Jeff; his nephew, Christopher (Stephanie) Webb; niece, Sara (Gary) Dugan; and . Webb may indeed be physically dead, but his research is more alive today than ever before, and continues to haunt the shadow government and snowball into a monster that will undoubtedly have its eventual revenge. The drugs went to South Central LA. Gary Webb Obituary (2011) - Saginaw, MI - Saginaw News on MLive.com [28] Maxine Waters, the representative for California's 35th district, which includes South-Central Los Angeles, was also outraged by the articles and became one of Webb's strongest supporters. Webb worked for several newspapers including The Kentucky Post and Cleveland Plain Dealer. ", As Webb would tell a friend, after he had been ostracised: "You have to look out, when the big dog gets off the porch.". Garcia responded by email but declined to speak on the record about the editing process of Webb's series. .article-native-ad strong { He also had this inherent belief that the truth could not harm him. She said the paper wanted to make up for what it had done in the past. And it was ignored by the US media, for all of those reasons. The CIA Inspector-General's report was issued in two volumes. Army. "They tried to make us look like crazies," says Blum. Webb made his early reputation as a reporter with the Plain Dealer before going on to fame and turmoil at the San Jose Mercury News. [44], Ceppos' column drew editorial responses from both The New York Times and The Washington Post. He really did believe that," she says. Gary Webb's "Approach Split" in the atrium of 20 Triton Street London. A flood of inquiries about Gary Webb's shooting death prompts statement. Born January 3rd, 1943 in Montreal, Quebec, he was the son of the late John Douglas Webb and the late Jeannie (Penny) Hardie Penman. Gary Webb's family says his death was Suicide. OR was he like Epstein Gary's documentation is awesome and his work ethic is unbelievable. "Ross," his report went on, dealt "on a scale never before conceived," with "a staggering turnover" of "50 to 100 kilos of cocaine a day". The three articles in the series were written by four reporters: Jesse Katz, Doyle McManus, John Mitchell and Sam Fulwood. And this is not a happy story - or," she adds, "a little one.". But Ian Webbknows all too well the emotions that come with that experience. But ultimately, the responsibility was, and is, mine.". [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. The link between drug-running and the Reagan regime's support for the right-wing terrorist group throughout the 1980s had been public knowledge for over a decade. Then, in August the same year, the first of three instalments of "Dark Alliance" appeared. "Gary was given the choice of relocating either to San Jose," says Bell, "or to Cupertino". Dark Alliance - Dark Alliance Webb, Bell explains, had written four letters explaining what he was about to do - one to her, one to each of their three children - and mailed them immediately before he killed himself. Gary Webb (Investigative Journalist) Wiki, Biography, Age, Wife, Family He was the much-loved father of Lindsay (Stephen . Voices: The Gary Webb saga still has lessons today [7] After transferring to Northern Kentucky, he entered its journalism program and wrote for the school paper, The Northerner. She was a homemaker and a member of Hunters Chapel Baptist Church. The claim that the drug ring of Meneses-Blandn-Ross sparked the "crack explosion" has been perhaps the most criticized part of the series. Eighteen Years Ago Today, Journalist Gary Webb Was Murdered After Call 911 for assistance. [45], The Post's response came from the paper's ombudsman, Geneva Overholser. "The government side of the story is coming through the Los Angeles Times, The New York Times, The Washington Post", he stated. In the final few months of his life, Bell says, Webb became increasingly withdrawn. Poor Gary Webb. 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? That was just the way he was.". I realise now he was thinking about suicide.". A revised version was published in 1999 that incorporated Webb's response to the CIA and Justice Department reports. Webb's then-wife Sue remembers coming home from the shops and finding her. "I believe that Americans, as a nation, are mainly concerned with living their happy little lives. Gary Webb - Biography - IMDb The Man Who Exposed The Crips, Bloods & CIA Connection to - YouTube I ask Bell. The CIA, the drug dealers, and the tragedy of Gary Webb - The Telegraph "He started having motorcycle crashes," Bell says. Parry, the first reporter to write about the US authorities' drug-running on behalf of the Contras, had survived a campaign by the White House to discredit first his story, then his reputation. The review was conducted primarily by editor Jonathan Krim and reporter Pete Carey, who had written the paper's first published analysis of the series. We had been here before." 4) The series "created impressions that were open to misinterpretation" through "imprecise language and graphics. "But Gary thought that if something was true, it should be told. When Webb's body was discovered last December, Bell says, this last item had been dumped in the trash. Gary Webb passed away on March 2, 2019. He had also lost his house the week before his suicide. Gary Webb and the Iran-Contra-Cocaine Connection | WilderUtopia [19] The series was published in The Mercury News in three parts, from Sunday, 18 August 1996 to 20 August 1996, with a first long article and one or two shorter articles appearing each day. The coroner's staff concluded that the second shot hit an artery.[70]. The article suggested this was in retribution for Ross' testimony in the corruption case. The normal process is, or should be, that a reporter files a story and is robustly challenged by his paper's lawyers and editors - who, if satisfied that the report is accurate - publish, then defend the writer to the hilt. The story was picked up by black talk-radio stations. [10] The series, which examined the murder of a coal company president with ties to organized crime, won the national Investigative Reporters and Editors Award for reporting from a small newspaper. 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. [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. He became an investigator for the California State Legislature, published a book based on the "Dark Alliance" series in 1998, and did freelance investigative reporting. [69], Webb was found dead in his Carmichael home on December 10, 2004, with two gunshot wounds to the head. "[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. As it turned out," she adds, "that was not their intent.". It also examined "how CIA handled and responded to information regarding allegations of drug trafficking" by people involved in Contra activities or support. Newsweek called Kerry a "randy conspiracy buff". ", Webb had already been cremated and his ashes scattered in the bay off Santa Cruz two weeks before. I believe that we fell short at every step of our process: in the writing, editing and production of our work. Gary Webb Resigns from the San Jose Mercury News The new movie Kill the Messenger, based in part on a 2006 book by a former student of mine, eulogizes Webb . 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. Webb undeniably made mistakes of detail and emphasis in the newspaper version of "Dark Alliance". Susan Bell: a shameful secret history - The Independent that the "federal government bore some responsibility, however indirect, for the flood of crack that coursed through black neighborhoods in the 1980s"). Emma Lee Webb of Crossett, Arkansas | 1947 - 2023 | Obituary Their explosive report, which appeared in 1989, was either ignored, or marginalised, by the American press. [81], Peter Kornbluh, a researcher at George Washington University's National Security Archives, also does not agree that the report vindicated the series. The whole business, I suggested to Blum, has echoes of a classic Alfred Hitchcock plot. Ross, currently serving life, was already infamous; he had been profiled in the LA Times in December 1994, by writer Jesse Katz, at a time when Ross was at liberty and in penitent mood. "[77], Webb's reporting in "Dark Alliance" remains controversial. Ceppos initially defended Webb, and reportedly showed up at an in-house party wearing a military helmet. Gary Webb on the CIA's Role in the 1980s LA Crack Epidemic - Citizen Truth It was an amazing scoop - but one that would ruin his career and drive him to suicide. He was taken to hospital by air ambulance. Instead, he found work in 1978 as a reporter at the Kentucky Post, a local paper affiliated with the larger Cincinnati Post. Part of what makes OConnors article so compelling are the candid thoughts of Webbs former wife Sue Stokes. 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. GARY WEBB OBITUARY Gary Frank Webb Sept. 27, 1944 - Oct. 23, 2022 Gary passed away peacefully of complications following cardiovascular surgery. "He thought I was being cowardly. "For the better part of a decade," it began, "a San Francisco drug ring sold tons of cocaine to the Crips and Bloods street gangs of Los Angeles and funnelled millions in drug profits to a Latin American guerrilla army run by the US Central Intelligence Agency.". Gary Webb photos on Flickr | Flickr Gary E. Webb, a dedicated husband, dad, pappy, coach, mentor, teacher, supporter, hero, and best friend, was called home by the Lord while surrounded by family. Man Donates Liver To Ex-Wife - CBS News "You do not understand the power of these people," he adds, referring to the US intelligence services. } He was sentenced to life in prison, though the sentence was shortened on appeal and Ross was released in 2009. margin-bottom: 20px; [11], In 1983, Webb moved to the Cleveland Plain Dealer, where he continued doing investigative work. And "we really didn't do anything to advance his work or illuminate much to the story, and it was a really kind of tawdry exercise. } "People told me that," she says. He wrote well. Bell and her children helped Webb prepare 50 packages containing cuttings and his CV which they sent out to newspapers all over the US. The couple got married recently in November of 2020 after dating for some time. He was born August 27, 1968 in Saginaw, Michigan to Taylor Jr. and Loretta Webb. "It says the CIA helped introduce poison into our children. 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 . He had sold his house the week before his death because he was unable to afford the mortgage.[71]. "The cause of death was determined to be self . [73], On the other hand, many of the writers and editors who worked with him have had high praise for him. Gary Webb Obituary (1944 - 2022) - Portland, OR - The Oregonian 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. If the antagonism of competing publications was predictable, what happened to Webb within his own newspaper was not. 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. In February last year he was laid off by the State Legislature. Occupation: Machine Operators, Assemblers, and Inspectors Occupations. He placed his keys and ID cards on the kitchen table, together with a cremation certificate he had purchased for himself. The series ran from October 2022, 1996, and was researched by a team of 17 reporters. and Drugs Has a Life of Its Own", "Pivotal Figures of Newspaper Series May Be Only Bit Players", "Tracking the Genesis of the Crack Trade", "Examining Charges of CIA Role in Crack Sales", "History Fuels Outrage Over Crack Allegations", "Ex-L.A. Times Writer Apologizes for "Tawdry" Attacks", "Mercury News Executive Editor Jerry Ceppos' Letter to the Washington Post", "Washington Post response to Mercury News Executive Editor Jerry Ceppos", "Despite critics, a good story Crack and the contras", "CIA-Contra-Crack Cocaine Controversy: Epilogue", "CIA-Contra-Crack Cocaine Controversy: Conclusions", United States House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, "Are You Sure You Want to Ruin Your Career? 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. I remain astounded by the editorial decisions they made.". When Attorney General Janet Reno determined that a delay was no longer necessary, the report was released unaltered. Gary's ex-wife Susan Bell states: "The way he was acting it would be hard for me to believe it was anything but suicide." An interesting OPINION, but she supplies no convincing evidence to illustrate what she means by this. "Do not quote me. Kill the Messenger True Story vs. Movie - Real Gary Webb The Los Angeles Sheriff's Department began its own investigation into the "Dark Alliance" claims.[30]. 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. "[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. "He had six in a short period of time." Webb had become, as somebody put it, "radioactive". As a result, some major US newspapers ignored its findings completely, while others relegated a brief summary to their inside pages. ", "After Gary died," she says, "a reporter from the LA Times came here. "I had to warn Gary that what he was looking at was probably true, but that he would run very big risks," Parry recalls. Webb disagreed with this conclusion.[1][2]. Within weeks, the site was attracting up to 1.3m hits per day. 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. Webb, a Pullitzer prize winning journalist, exposed CIA drug trafficking operations in a series of books and reports for the San Jose Mercury News. [52] Webb was allowed to keep working on the story and made one more trip to Nicaragua in March. * The agency's response was to try to prevent him from getting his doctorate, then block his advancement in the academic world. 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. "Because of Gary Webb's work," said Senator John Kerry, "the CIA launched an investigation that found dozens of connections to drug runners. 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.
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