"I believe that Americans, as a nation, are mainly concerned with living their happy little lives. To pay off his mounting debts, Webb sold the Carmichael property, where he was living alone, and arranged to move in with his mother. Gary Webb's family says his death was Suicide. OR was he like Epstein In and out of work, he had a reputation for taking risks. 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 . Webb, Gary Gary T. Webb, age 67, of Hamilton, Michigan, passed away peacefully surrounded by his loving family Thursday, November 11, 2021. It was also posted on The Mercury News website with additional information, including documents cited in the series and audio recordings of people quoted in the articles. A perceptive, engaging woman of 48, she has turned an adjoining study into a small shrine to her late husband, who would have celebrated his 50th birthday five weeks ago. The article discussed Webb's contacts with Ross's attorney and prosecution complaints of how Ross's defense had used Webb's series. One of these was a 1986 raid on Blandn's drug organization by the Los Angeles Sheriff's Department, which the article suggested had produced evidence of CIA ties to drug smuggling that was later suppressed. He cites the case of Alfred McCoy, now Professor of South East Asian Studies at the University of Wisconsin. Webb, unlike Blum or Kerry, had to face his difficulties alone. 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. Hired by the San Jose Mercury News, Webb contributed to the paper's Pulitzer Prize-winning coverage of the Loma Prieta earthquake. 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. Then, on 10 December, he resigned. The article resulted in a lawsuit against Webb's paper which the plaintiffs won. Pictured as a teenage fan: Gary Numan with Gemma, his now wife, getting his autograph in 1985 years before they got together Gary was 600,000 in debt, and on the verge of going under in. [39] Carey's critique appeared in mid-October and went through several of the Post's criticisms of the series, including the importance of Blandn's drug ring in spreading crack, questions about Blandn's testimony in court, and how specific series allegations about CIA involvement had been, giving Webb's responses. . As a result, some major US newspapers ignored its findings completely, while others relegated a brief summary to their inside pages. Poor Gary Webb. We were dismissed as a bunch of nuts." "The cause of death was determined to be self . [45], The Post's response came from the paper's ombudsman, Geneva Overholser. Gary Webb (304) 778-2546: Jamie Webb (304) 778-2546: Status: Homeowner. We are in the living room of Bell's house just outside Sacramento, California. 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. Unfortunately, the railroading of Gary Webb had begun and he was run over. Asking why crack became so prevalent in the Black community of Los Angeles, the article credited Blandn, referring to him as "the Johnny Appleseed of crack in California. Ceppos initially defended Webb, and reportedly showed up at an in-house party wearing a military helmet. "I had to warn Gary that what he was looking at was probably true, but that he would run very big risks," Parry recalls. 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. 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. [18], Webb began researching "Dark Alliance" in July 1995. 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. [40] Ceppos also asked reporter Pete Carey to write a critique of the series for publication in The Mercury News, and had the controversial website artwork changed. He was assigned to its Sacramento bureau, where he was allowed to choose most of his own stories. 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]. One of his last articles examined America's Army, a video game designed by the U.S. 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. margin-bottom: 20px; In February, Gary Webb gave his ex-wife. Look at the way the US press reports on Iraq. A jury awarded the plaintiffs over 13 million dollars and the case was later settled. 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. He was a former member of Bethlehem . In 2004, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Gary Webb was found dead from an apparent suicide, as Democracy Now! Webb began to shift from cynicism to curiosity. "You do not understand the power of these people," he adds, referring to the US intelligence services. Gary Webb FRCPC Obituary (1943 - 2021) - Legacy Remembers . The passing of Gary ends more than 50 years with his best friend and loving wife, Marilyn J. "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. Ceppos and Garcia have long since lost any taste for public discussion of "Dark Alliance". There were no offers. Gary Hays (304) 778-7090: 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. 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's painstaking investigation and the incindiary conclusions he drew from it were based mostly on public records, as detailed in the "notes on sources" section in "Dark Alliance", including: undercover audio tapes, declassified government documents from the CIA, DEA, FBI, L.A. Sheriff's Department, files from the Iran-Contra . Baca claimed that a drug dealer with close links to the CIA had framed her boyfriend, who was also in the cocaine business. [66] What he found, he wrote later, "nearly knocked me off my chair". "I think the behaviour of the media in all of this has been amazing," says Bell. Meneses, an established smuggler and a Contra supporter as well, taught Blandn how to smuggle and provided him with cocaine. To Read the Full Story Become an Adweek+ Subscriber. Gary was preceded in death by his mother and father, Donna and James Webb of Carpentersville. Kill the Messenger True Story vs. Movie - Real Gary Webb Gary Webb famously died of two gun shot wounds to the head and - reddit padding:0!important; Snowfall is an American crime drama television series set in Los Angeles in 1983. Webb had become, as somebody put it, "radioactive". 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. 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. "He definitely was depressed. font-weight:500; Kill the Messenger review - what really happened to Gary Webb Gary's family found that old, storied, ("priceless to us," as his ex-wife, Susan Bell, described it to me) CDROM among his possessions. [32], The New York Times published two articles on the series in mid-October, both written by reporter Tim Golden. 71K views 8 years ago Gary Webb's son Ian talks about the film in which Jeremy Renner plays his late journalist father. Webb's condition exacerbated his natural recklessness. 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. Want to bookmark your favourite articles and stories to read or reference later? [52] Webb was allowed to keep working on the story and made one more trip to Nicaragua in March. For two years, Blum and Kerry supervised the interrogation of dozens of witnesses who described CIA-related drug deals in central America. He was born at Emmanuel Hospital in. Dark Alliance - Dark Alliance Video courtesy of documentary FREEWAY: CRACK IN THE SYSTEM premiering on Al Jazeera America in early 2015. Gary's story, however, is far from over and could never be killed by something as trivial as a material bullet. Should these editors subsequently deem the story to have been fatally flawed, they take the consequences. Gary Webb's "Approach Split" in the atrium of 20 Triton Street London. He also had this inherent belief that the truth could not harm him. 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." The couple got married recently in November of 2020 after dating for some time. Eli Tomac on track during Media Day at Daytona International Speedway, Friday, March 3, 2023. "Gary Webb was left to fend for himself. Family and friends will gather to celebrate his life of 59 years at 10 a.m. on Thursday, March 7, 2019, at Lamesa Continue Reading Leave a Message, Share a Memory Occupation: Machine Operators, Assemblers, and Inspectors Occupations. Webb's then-wife Sue remembers coming home from the shops and finding her. Garry Webb wrote the 1996 "Dark Alliance" series for the San Jose. Sue remarried two years ago. Webb 'Suicide' Looking More Like Murder - rense.com 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. Within weeks, the site was attracting up to 1.3m hits per day. The other article, citing interviews with current and former intelligence and law-enforcement officials, questioned the importance of the drug dealers discussed in the series, both in the crack cocaine trade and in supporting the Nicaraguan Contras' fight against the Sandinista government in Nicaragua. "To get back at his editors?". Osborn, Barbara Bliss (MarchApril 1998). 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. [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. Dec. 13, 2004. 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". She was a native of Minden, LA, but a resident of Crossett for 65 years. Gary Douglas Webb of Radnor, PA, passed away on October 19, 2021. Tara Becker-Gray Lee News Network Jan 17, 2019 0 1 of 2 C. Webb The body found at a house fire at 13308 95th Ave. in rural Blue Grass on Thursday night has been identified as Cynthia Webb, 59.. It was published in 1998 as Dark Alliance: The CIA, the Contras, and the Crack Cocaine Explosion. Webb chose the second option. border-bottom: 1px solid #ddd; The story was picked up by black talk-radio stations. The "Dark Alliance" series remains controversial. Actor Jeremy Renner portrays Webb.[83]. A Celebration of Life will be . [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. [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." 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. .article-native-ad svg { [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 made his early reputation as a reporter with the Plain Dealer before going on to fame and turmoil at the San Jose Mercury News. [54] Editors at the paper, on the other hand, felt that Webb had failed to tell them about information that contradicted the series's claims and that he "responded to concerns not with reasoned argument, but with accusations of us selling him out. He also defended the series in interviews with all three papers. "He walked in one day," Bell recalls, "and said, 'You are not going to believe what I just found out.' "People told me that," she says. Gary Hays Webb, 78, passed away on Monday May 9, 2022, at ThedaCare Regional Medical Center, Neenah. 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. But Ian Webbknows all too well the emotions that come with that experience. Many writers discussing the series point to errors in it. And it was ignored by the US media, for all of those reasons. ", Webb had already been cremated and his ashes scattered in the bay off Santa Cruz two weeks before. Blandn and Meneses' high-volume supply of low-priced high-purity cocaine "allowed Ross to sew up the Los Angeles market and move on.