Nipsey Hussle was being investigated by the LAPD prior to his death in March, says a new report from The New York Times.
According to a report published in The New York Times yesterday (15 July), authorities in LA had been investigating the rapper for gang-related ties long before his death in March this year. The Times report that the ongoing investigation is to determine whether a strip mall owned by Hussle, on the corner of Crenshaw Boulevard and Slauson Avenue in LA, was a hub for gang activity. The investigation, being run by the Los Angeles Police Department and city attorney’s office, is also looking into Hussle’s “empire” and may lead to the city of LA taking action over the rapper’s former business partners.
LA authorities had also reportedly put pressure on Hussle’s former landlords to evict his Marathon Clothing store. Instead, they apparently sold the entire strip mall to him and a group of investors for 2.5 million dollars. The LAPD declined to comment on the investigation to the Times but told the paper that police were still in negotiation with Hussle’s associates to try to curb crime in the area.
The Grammy-winning rapper was shot and killed outside Marathon Clothing on 31 March 2019. After his death the rapper was hailed has a strong advocate and spokesperson for his local LA community. Soon after his death, a petition was started by social and political activist Najee Ali, calling for the local council to rename the South LA intersection of Crenshaw and Slauson after Nipsey Hussle.
The Times also points to the apparent contradiction between the LA police’s embrace of the legacy of Hussle after his death, and the unpublicised investigation: “The police chief hailed him as a peacemaker. The head of the police commission said he had plans to meet with Hussle to discuss ways to reduce gang violence,” reads the report. “Yet in the same moment that the city’s leaders were rushing to embrace Hussle as a hero of South Los Angeles, officials in the Police Department and city attorney’s office were investigating him. According to the city authorities and others briefed on the matter, they had an open investigation into Hussle, his property and his business associates.”
Listen to stephseeks’ Nipsey Hussle mix here.