nytimes.com
California Today: Why L.A. Police Have Been Investigating Nipsey Hussle
By Jill Cowan
8-10 minutes
California Today
The strip mall property owned by Nipsey Hussle in South Los Angeles has seen a steady flow of tourists and flowers since he was killed in March.CreditJenna Schoenefeld for The New York Times
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The strip mall property owned by Nipsey Hussle in South Los Angeles has seen a steady flow of tourists and flowers since he was killed in March.CreditCreditJenna Schoenefeld for The New York Times
Good morning.
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On Monday, my colleague Tim Arango published an exclusive piece that illustrates the complexity of policing gangs in Los Angeles. He explained what he found:
When the rapper Nipsey Hussle was gunned down in the parking lot of the South Los Angeles strip mall he owned in late March, city leaders called on the community to come together and honor his legacy by pushing for peace in the neighborhood.
Months later, his legacy lives on — in the countless murals of his image that are all over the city, and in the hearts of the residents of South L.A. he inspired, with his music, his investments in the community and his commitment to protecting it from gentrification.
[Read about Nipsey Hussle’s legacy as an artist who never left his hometown behind.]
But even as city leaders, including the mayor and police commissioner, embraced Hussle, whose real name was Ermias Asghedom, as a pillar of the community and a peacemaker among gang members, Hussle was also the subject of a long-running investigation by the Los Angeles Police Department and city attorney’s office into whether his property at the corner of Crenshaw Boulevard and Slauson Avenue was a hub of gang activity.
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.
The investigation reflects deep divisions within the city about how to deal with street gangs. Hussle had openly acknowledged his past involvement with the Rollin 60s Crips, which has roots in 1970s Los Angeles, but had tried to use his music and growing fame to transcend that past.
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.
Now that Hussle is gone, the investigation threatens to jeopardize the future of his businesses in the neighborhood, especially if the Police Department and city attorney take action against his remaining business partners, and his plans to invest in residential and retail outlets.
“I think everybody in the community will do everything we can to make sure the ventures he started will continue,” Mr. Harris-Dawson said. “And this is a very confusing hiccup in this process.”
