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'It's just good vibes': Cooper Webb, Eli Tomac in tight Supercross [33] Golden also referred to the controversy over Webb's contacts with Ross's lawyer. 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. Susan Bell: a shameful secret history - The Independent By 1997, Bell tells me, Webb - whose 30-year career had earned him more awards than there is room for in her study - had been reassigned to the Mercury News's office in Cupertino. It was published in 1998 as Dark Alliance: The CIA, the Contras, and the Crack Cocaine Explosion. Contemporary discussions of the series are discussed in the section on, Webb 2011, "Caltrans Ignored Elevated Freeway Safety. 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. 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.' I remain astounded by the editorial decisions they made.". But ultimately, the responsibility was, and is, mine.". "They had him writing obituaries," she said. He began his career working for newspapers in Kentucky and Ohio, winning numerous awards, and building a strong reputation for investigative writing. It was truthful. [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. 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". It noted that Blandn and Meneses claimed to have donated money to Contra sympathizers in Los Angeles, but found no information to confirm that it was true or that the agency had heard of it. After Webb's death, a collection of his stories from before and after the "Dark Alliance" series was published. font-size: 34px; He was laid off in February 2004 when Assembly Member Fabian Nez was elected Speaker. Many writers discussing the series point to errors in it. And the importance of exposing them. It was good that his story forced those reports to come out, but part of what made that happen was based on misleading information. 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: Murdered For Exposing The Truth - A New Kind Of Human Gary Stephen Webb(August 31, 1955 - December 10, 2004) was an American investigative journalist. Five years ago, a tragedy occurred in American journalism: Investigative reporter Gary Webb - who had been ostracized by his own colleagues for forcing a spotlight back onto an ugly government scandal they wanted to ignore - was driven to commit suicide. Unfortunately, the railroading of Gary Webb had begun and he was run over. "Do you think that a part of him did this out of revenge?" "But that," pointed out Blum, who is now a Washington attorney, "in no way - in no way - diminishes the wrongness of what these bastards did. Its pointed to as one of the clearer cases of CIA intervention as revenge for Webb revealing damaging secrets about the agencies involvement in drug smuggling. [39] The Post refused to print his letter. Gary Webb famously died of two gun shot wounds to the head and - reddit He said: 'No. "He rang me up that day. Views on Webb's journalism have been polarized. I mean - please.". [16] As part of The Mercury News team that covered the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake, Webb and his colleague Pete Carey wrote a story examining the causes of the collapse of the Cypress Street Viaduct. Gary Webb FRCPC Obituary (1943 - 2021) - Legacy Remembers He received his medical degree from American University of the Caribbean School of Medicine and has been in practice for more than. 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. Born in Corona, California, son of a conservatively minded Marine, he met Bell, whose father was a university lecturer, at high school in Indianapolis. Gary Douglas Webb of Radnor, PA, passed away on October 19, 2021. "He had six in a short period of time." Nick Schou, a journalist who wrote a 2006 biography of Webb, has claimed that this was the most important error in the series. The CIA, the drug dealers, and the tragedy of Gary Webb - The Telegraph "He was sleeping more, he hated to get up in the morning, he started having a lot of motorcycle. [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. Newsweek called Kerry a "randy conspiracy buff". Webb began to shift from cynicism to curiosity. His. E&P Staff. Gary Numan's superfan wife had 'body lift' and exploding breasts Webb's experience came as no surprise to Jack Blum, senior prosecutor for the Kerry Committee. He was found dead on Friday morning in what the police said was an apparent suicide. 3) The series oversimplified how the crack epidemic grew. 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. Gary Webb's Ex-Wife Set to Attend New York Premiere - Adweek Few reporters I've known could match his nose for an investigative story. When his medical insurance expired, he stopped taking his antidepressants. The Los Angeles Sheriff's Department began its own investigation into the "Dark Alliance" claims.[30]. 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 . 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. I realise now he was thinking about suicide.". Gary is survived by his loving wife of 41 years, Barbara; their son, Jeff; his nephew, Christopher (Stephanie) Webb; niece, Sara (Gary) Dugan; and . Gary Webb became, quite unfairly, the victim of one of the most extraordinary examples of piling on by the mainstream press, ever.". At the end of March, Ceppos told Webb that he was going to present the internal review findings in a column. The "Dark Alliance" series remains controversial. His erstwhile editors on the Mercury News, meanwhile, saw their careers thrive. "I told Gary not to go near this story," his source replies, in an emotional voice. "To get back at his editors?". The CIA Inspector-General's report was issued in two volumes. 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. [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. Save 50% with early-bird passes. Last edited on 10 February 2023, at 03:36, House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, Dark Alliance: The CIA, the Contras, and the Crack Cocaine Explosion, CIA involvement in Contra cocaine trafficking, "To readers of our 'Dark Alliance' series", "America's 'crack' plague has roots in Nicaragua war", "War on drugs has unequal impact on black Americans", "Los Angeles Sheriff's Department Inquiry Findings", "The CIA and Crack: Evidence Is Lacking Of Alleged Plot", "Though Evidence Is Thin, Tale of C.I.A. "You do not understand the power of these people," he adds, referring to the US intelligence services. Relationships with other women ended badly. To pay off his mounting debts, Webb sold the Carmichael property, where he was living alone, and arranged to move in with his mother. His career ended, his livelihood was destroyed and certain games were started to be . I believe that we fell short at every step of our process: in the writing, editing and production of our work. Film of this encounter survives. I ask Bell. "Back then. He told me: 'If I can't do what I want to do, what's the point?' Gary's story, however, is far from over and could never be killed by something as trivial as a material bullet. 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. 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. Gary Webb - Lake Ridge Chapel & Memorial Designers ", "After Gary died," she says, "a reporter from the LA Times came here. 1) It presented only one interpretation of conflicting evidence and in one case "did not include information that contradicted a central assertion of the series." "[77], Webb's reporting in "Dark Alliance" remains controversial. Start your Independent Premium subscription today. [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." "[2], Ceppos noted that Webb did not agree with these conclusions. He went into the bedroom, and picked up a .38 that had belonged to his father. "I think Kerry learnt a lesson from all this," reporter Robert Parry says. He was born at Emmanuel Hospital in. "Gary was 18 and I was 16 when we first met and started dating in Indianapolis," said Sue Stokes. [69], Webb was found dead in his Carmichael home on December 10, 2004, with two gunshot wounds to the head. The first detailed article on the series's claims appeared in The Washington Post in early October. Talking about his wife, Mariah Webb is a nurse who also educates about essential products . He was a former member of Bethlehem .