Nipsey Hussle Was Under Investigation for Alleged Gang Connection at the Time of His Death: Report
Rapper and activist Nipsey Hussle was reportedly under investigation by the Los Angeles Police Department at the time of his death, according to the New York Times.
The newspaper reports that authorities at the LAPD and the city attorney’s office had an open investigation into Hussle and his Marathon Clothing store to determine whether the shop was a center for gang activity.
According to the Times, the investigation has continued after the rapper’s death. (Hussle was shot outside of the Marathon Clothing store in March. He was 33.)
“The killing has emboldened investigators who see it as just the sort of violent act they were worried could happen at the property,” the Times reports.
The LAPD declined PEOPLE’s request for comment, saying: “At this time, we are not discussing any criminal investigation relating to Nipsey Hussle.”
A spokesperson for the LAPD did not comment on the specifics of the continuing investigation to the Times, but said they were negotiating with Hussle’s associates at the Marathon Clothing property “to mitigate some of those crime issues.” A spokesperson for the city attorney’s office told the Times it could not comment on an open investigation.
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The Times reports that, as part of the investigation, the city pressured the owners of the Marathon Clothing property to evict Hussle; instead, the owners sold the property to Hussle and a group of investors. The newspaper notes that the ongoing investigation could mean that the city will take action against Hussle’s business partners.
The LAPD had praised Hussle for his activism after his death, the Times notes in its report. Hussle was even set to meet with the police chief of the LAPD to discuss gang violence the day after his death.
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Hussle was believed to once have ties to the Crips gang before becoming a community activist. He spoke about the ties in a 2010 interview with Complex.
Opening up about what it was like to make the transition from being involved in gang culture to being an artist and activist, the rapper said he felt “like I’m an ambassador.”
“I left my house kind of early, when I was probably like 14,” he told VLAD TV in 2014, explaining that at that time he had moved out of his mother’s house and in with his grandmother.
“I was always doing things to try to get money so I could support myself,” he shared. “The culture of my area is gang culture so by being outside, being involved with hustling, being in the hood doing things to try and get money, being young, riding your bike through the hood getting shot at … after a while it just be like, you’re always in the middle of some s—, you might as well be part of it.”
