Former D.C. Mayor Marion Barry Dies
Marion Barry, the fiery Washington, D.C., politician who was famously re-elected after going to jail for crack cocaine possession, has died after months of battling health issues. He was 78.
The four-term mayor, who was still serving his third term on the D.C. Council, was famous for fighting for the district’s disenfranchised, but won national notoriety after he was caught on FBI video with an ex-girlfriend and crack cocaine in 1990.
He was considered by many to be the district’s most charismatic and controversial politician.
Barry collapsed Saturday and was taken to United Medical Center in Washington, D.C., where he died. He had just been released earlier from Howard University Hospital, where he had been admitted on Thursday, according to WUSA9.
More: Former D.C. Mayor Marion Barry Dies : The Two-Way : NPR