Was The City of L.A Trying To Stop The Rise of a Black Messiah?

“Prevent the RISE OF A “MESSIAH” who could unify, and electrify, the militant black nationalist movement. Malcolm X might have been such a “messiah;” he is the martyr of the movement today. Martin Luther King, Stokely Carmichael and Elijah Muhammed all aspire to this position.” – 1960 FBI Memo under J. Edgar Hoover

South Central, L.A–It has now been four months since Los Angeles rapper and businessman Nipsey Hussle was gunned down at his place of business.

The New York Times published an article yesterday, alleging that Nipsey was being investigated by the LAPD over gang activity at his clothing store, prior to his death.

According to The New York Times:

”The investigation, which hadn’t been publicized by the city until now, has gathered steam in the wake of the killing, as investigators had worried that the strip mall could become a scene of violence.

But investigators are now in a bind: With the narrative of Hussle as a hero now solidified, there will most likely be enormous political pressure to back away from the investigation because of the risk of damaging relations between the city and the community of South L.A.

Marqueece Harris-Dawson, a City Council member who represents South Los Angeles, said his office had been trying to get answers about the investigation for years, on behalf of Hussle and his business partners.

“We have not received complaints about this address, and conversely there are dozens of other addresses that we have received complaints about but haven’t been able to get any action,” he said.”

This information doesn’t come as a surprise, to anyone that watched Nipsey Hussle’s brother Blacc Sam’s tribute at Nipsey’s funeral service.

Blacc Sam detailed how the city of L.A along with the L.A.P.D had been pressuring the previous owner of the parking lot to evict them.

They rented several store fronts and operated various businesses in the lot on Slauson and Crenshaw, including the Marathon Clothing Store

So much so, the police told the owner of the lot that he faced losing his property if they did not comply. Instead, the previous owner decided to sell the property to Nipsey Hussle.

Why did the city of Los Angeles have it out for Nipsey Hussle so bad?

In the month prior to Nipsey Hussle’s death, Forbes wrote an article detailing how Nipsey and his business partners bought the entire strip mall parking lot where his Marathon Clothing Store had been located for years.

Crenshaw and Slauson is an interesting location for various reasons.

There is a train currently being built in Los Angeles, which has been a major concern for the Black community of South Central where this train will now run through.

Slauson and Crenshaw is one of the mapped out stops on the new metro.

As this story develops and more information Continues to come out in regards to the backstory to Nipsey Hussle’s murder, the community of L.A and people around the world, continue to believe that Nipsey Hussle was killed for way more than a “street-related” disagreement.