Gary Webb

Gary Webb      (journalist, CIA/Drug trafficking/Premature death)
c. 2002
Born	Gary Stephen Webb August 31, 1955 Corona, California
Died	December 10, 2004 (Age 49) Carmichael, California, U.S.
Cause of death	Two gunshots to the head
Alma mater	Northern Kentucky University
Children	3
Spouse	Susan Bell
Exposed	CIA/Drug trafficking
Victim of	premature death
Interests	• CIA/Drug trafficking • Lok Lau
Interest of	Bill Conroy
Clearly exposed the CIA's complicity in drug smuggling, simultaneously demonstrating the controlled nature of the US corporate media. Shot twice in the head, ruled a suicide.

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 caved under pressure. Webb was shot twice in the head in 2004. It was ruled a suicide.

A video by James Corbett

Dark Alliance

Full article: Dark Alliance

Webb was best known for his 1996 Dark Alliance series of articles. This was written for the San Jose Mercury News, later published as a book, and made available online by NarcoNews.

Opposition by Corporate Media

His editors initially stood by the story, and effectively circumvented censorship by the larger corporate media interests by using the (at that time, emergent) WWW, achieving over 1,000,000 hits/day at the height of the story's publicity. This made the establishment's policy of silence untenable, and they issued denials.

Eventually, Webb's editors disowned the story - the factual basis of which was never really questioned - and they in turn pressured Webb to give up on it. Controlled corporate journalists such as Jesse Katz attempted to rubbish his narrative.

Webb, however, was determined to stick by his story. As he recounted in a GNN video, Webb's employers pressured him to quit by moving his employment a long way from his home.

It is established fact that the CIA had taken action with major newspapers against the Dark Alliance series, Webb and the San Jose Mercury News.

Death

Gary Webb died of two gunshot wounds to the head in December 10, 2004. It was ruled a suicide due to depression. It is regarded by many as suspicious. Likely due to the assumption that a first shot to the head must be fatal, but multiple gunshot suicides are possible; also a suicide with 4 gunshots to the head has been reported. It appears that in the beginning there were different reports about the injury and weapon used. At the time rumors were circulating that he was killed to prevent the release of a new book or material relating to CIA/Drug trafficking that was not public yet, which was basically confirmed by 'Freeway' Ricky Ross in a prison call. Ross also said that Webb had told him, that people were climbing telephone poles near his house and following him around, doing "stuff that he didn't really like" and "that it was the government too". By what is related from Ross in that phone call it does not seem that Gary Webb was in a position where he would consider suicide. However, people who were allied with him on a professional level, like Robert Parry and many editors at Narco News never left much doubt that they believe that it was his own doing, partly probably due to the account of his ex wife who at the funeral: "quelled any notion that his death was other than intentional". She, whom he still had contact with, related how: "Gary had written and mailed notes to family members. His own cremation was paid for already." And she, Susan Bell, was named as beneficiary of all the bank accounts in his name. She confirmed this version a year later in an interview with The Independent in which she described the event in detail and again years later in the Aljazeera documentary Freeway: Crack in the System. Daniel Hopsicker wrote that Webb, due to his financial troubles and the subsequent loss of his house, wanted to move in with his former girlfriend; she refused in the last minute as did his ex-wife and on the day before his death, his motorcycle was stolen. That situation according to Susan Bell: "was the last straw. He was so depressed. It was just more than he could take."

Legacy

His Dark Alliance website exposed the CIA's involvement in the crack cocaine business.

Mark Gorton credits Webb as one of the three people "who have most succinctly explained the workings of the Bush Crime Family". His 1996 website, Dark Alliance was restored by Narco News and as of August 2016 was still available online.

 

Quotes by Gary Webb

Page	Quote	Date	Source
Corporate media/Deep state control	“The reason I'd enjoyed such smooth sailing for so long hadn’t been, as I’d assumed, because I was careful and diligent and good at my job... The truth was that, in all those years, I hadn’t written anything important enough to suppress.”		The Greanville Post
Illegal drug trade	“the drug [cocaine] was carried across the border hidden in suitcases and shoes [but] as the industry grew, the cartels expanded and shipped by cargo ships, planes, stolen cars and trucks.”		Dark Alliance
Journalist	“If we had met five years ago, you wouldn't have found a more staunch defender of the newspaper industry than me ... I was winning awards, getting raises, lecturing college classes, appearing on TV shows, and judging journalism contests. So how could I possibly agree with people like Noam Chomsky and Ben Bagdikian, who were claiming the system didn't work, that it was steered by powerful special interests and corporations, and existed to protect the power elite? And then I wrote some stories that made me realize how sadly misplaced my bliss had been. The reason I'd enjoyed such smooth sailing for so long hadn't been, as I'd assumed, because I was careful and diligent and good at my job ... The truth was that, in all those years, I hadn't written anything important enough to suppress.”
Journalist	“This story of CIA drug dealing became a sensation because of the website, not because of the story, but because people could get to it. And they could never have gotten to it before because the San Jose Mercury News is a small regional newspaper in Northern California that you couldn't read if you lived in New York or you couldn't read if you lived in L.A.. But this story you could read anywhere in the world.”	2003	Guerrilla News Network

Many thanks to our Patrons who cover ~2/3 of our hosting bill. Please join them if you can.