Gary Webb Memorial by Michael C. Ruppert

[Up2Late]

SAYING GOODBYE TO A GIANT

Gary Webb Memorial Attended by Hundreds

New Information Confirms Suicide - "Open and Shut"

Shabby, Self-Serving Internet Reports by Pseudo Journalists and Activists Cause Webb Family Grief - It's Time for Real Journalists and Activists to Shun Demagogues, Hysterics and Profiteers

by Michael C. Ruppert

Carmichael, California; Saturday December 18, 2004, (FTW) - The world has said its powerful, enduring and loving goodbye to Gary Webb.

Approximately 300 people came from as far away as New Jersey to this quiet Sacramento suburb to honor a man who - against all odds - made the corrupt and venal world of corporations, covert operations and search-and destroy economics blink, stagger and show its true vulnerabilities. Webb's August 1996 Dark Alliance series in the San Jose Mercury News, and his 1998 book of the same name sparked an international outrage that led to congressional hearings, massive disclosures of criminal activity by the Central Intelligence Agency and the Reagan-Bush (I) White House. They also gave brief, if fleeting, hope to the oppressed - from America's inner cities to villages and farms from Mexico to Colombia - that justice might not be the sole province of a parallel universe, untouched and unreachable from the world in which we "the abandoned ones" must live.

But even as his memorial service was a stirring tribute to a man who changed our world, Gary's passing was not without controversy and a just few more cheap shots for which his courageous surviving family has paid the inevitable price. That was the nature of Gary's life and - given his experience since 1996 - he would/should have expected this. To be fair, these follow-on blows are also an inevitable byproduct of all suicides for which the one pulling the trigger must bear some responsibility.

The Los Angeles Times' obituary, published just hours after Webb's body was discovered, drew universal outrage at the service, not only from Webb's family but also from about eight of his long-time former colleagues - professional journalists and writers all - who showed up to defy the way Gary's life had been distorted by corporate press in (as of last count) 73 obituaries published in the US and around the world. Most of Gary's obituaries were cut-and-paste jobs using material from the Times and Associated Press which explains the Times' rush to put their "stink" on Gary's passing as quickly as possible. The L.A. Times obituary was published shortly after midnight on Sunday December 12th.

Emmy Award-winning former CBS News producer Kristina Borjesson, herself a brutal victim of the mainstream media's "buzz saw", sat quietly in the crowded hall paying her respects. She had come all the way from New Jersey and as I was leaving to come home on the last cleared flight out of Sacramento's fog-shrouded airport, she missed her flight home and probably had to spend the night there. This is what friends do for each other.

The Times and the major press had to kill Gary Webb a second time just to make sure it stuck. He, like his incredible and professional journalism, was that hard to kill. Otherwise they might all have all been shamed for their relentless continuing extermination of anything resembling real investigative journalism.

As much as I know that Gary appreciated the many glowing tributes to his work, I also thought I heard him rage at some of the pseudo-journalism and malicious spin that followed his December 11th suicide because it came from people who should have been his friends and behaved like it.

But for those who were present, who spoke, and who sent messages to his family and to the world, it was clear that what Gary Webb accomplished in life was fully appreciated and will never be forgotten. Gary was remembered and honored as he should have been. This is what will endure long after the bitter tastes and painful memories have faded from the consciousness of all who knew him.

Gary Webb was a giant in a village of midgets.
SUICIDE CONFIRMED

Gary's suicide was accomplished with two gunshot wounds to the head. In death Gary proved to be as determined and single-minded as he had been in life.

Because of the rampant and ill-informed speculation that has been traversing the Internet it is a sad necessity to put this issue to rest right up front. What follows should be a warning and a lesson to all activists and progressives; to all those who dare label themselves as "journalists" without ever once following standard journalism protocols designed to ensure fairness and minimize unnecessary harm to the innocent and those already in pain. (clip)

Here are the facts:

Gary Webb fired two shots from a .38 caliber revolver into his own head. The entrance wounds for both shots were at or near the right ear. However, for the first shot Webb had the gun angled downward which produced a through-and-through wound blowing out his lower left jaw. This was obviously not a fatal wound. His second shot, angled upward, successfully reached the brain, killing him instantly.

As a former LAPD police officer and detective I have seen several suicides where multiple gunshots, especially from a relatively weak handgun like a .38, using inappropriate target ammunition, required multiple shots. In most cases the second and sometimes third shots were required because the victim made "hesitation" movements as they pulled the trigger, moving the gun barrel away from a fatal trajectory. There are many places on the human head to which a gunshot wound is not fatal (e.g. the lower and upper jaws, the cheeks, the roof of the mouth, the nose, etc.). Only a shot to the brain usually produces death but even that is not always guaranteed. I have seen attempted suicide and homicide victims survive after a .38 "ball" round had passed completely through and exited the opposite side of the skull.

For the rest of the article, click the link below:
<http://www.fromthewilderness.com/free/ww3/122004_goodbye_giant.shtml>

[InvisibleBallots]

1. kick

Gary Webb RIP