Crime

Rapper’s death is part of recent spike in shootings

WAVE NEWSPAPERS — The death of rapper Nipsey Hussle came during a week that saw a spike in shootings that prompted three City Council members to introduce a motion at the April 2 City Council meeting asking the police department and the Mayor’s Office of Gang Reduction and Youth Development to report on the recent surge and the department’s strategy on responding to the increase.

Published

6 years ago

April 5, 2019

Oakland Post

LOS ANGELES —The death of rapper Nipsey Hussle came during a week that saw a spike in shootings that prompted three City Council members to introduce a motion at the April 2 City Council meeting asking the police department and the Mayor’s Office of Gang Reduction and Youth Development to report on the recent surge and the department’s strategy on responding to the increase.

Hussle was shot in the head and upper body March 31 outside a clothing store he owns in the 3400 block of West Slauson Avenue in the Hyde Park area. Two other men also were injured in the shooting.

Although homicides are down in the city over the first three months of the year compared to 2018, Los Angeles Police Department Chief Michel Moore said Hustle’s death came during a week where 26 people were shot in the city and 10 were killed.

At a news conference at LAPD headquarters April 2, Moore said the surge in violence began several weeks ago and was particularly impacting African-American men.

“Nipsey Hussle represents the enormity of the lives that we have lost,” said Moore, who had been scheduled to meet with Hussle and others on April 1 to discuss ways to reduce gang violence.

Moore recalled getting a message March 31 that three people had been shot in South Los Angeles, and then realizing Hussle was among the victims.

“And then I saw the name Nipsey Hussle, and I looked at that again, and I looked at it again, and it was like, I could not believe it,” Moore said. “It just drove the added violence even that much more severe. So I am devastated with that because this is a voice that was trying to help and was investing in his community.”

Crime dropped in Los Angeles in every major category in the city in 2018, according to the LAPD. Homicides were down 8.2 percent, violent crime was down 4.5 percent and property crime was down 1.8 percent. Homicides totaled 259, down from 282 in 2017.

“There has been a disturbing uptick in gang-related shootings in South L.A. and the Harbor Area. It is imperative that the city look into what can be done to address this surge, especially before the summer begins, which is traditionally the time of year that experiences the highest incidence of shootings and gang-related activity,” the City Council motion says.

The motion was introduced by Joe Buscaino, who represents the Harbor Area, Monica Rodriguez, chair of the Public Safety Committee, and Marqueece Harris-Dawson, who represents parts of South Los Angeles, including Hyde Park.

This article originally appeared in the Wave Newspapers.

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Oakland Post: Week of June 4 – 10, 2025

The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of June 4-10, 2025

Published

2 days ago

June 7, 2025

Oakland Post

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Remembering George Floyd

BLACKPRESSUSA NEWSWIRE — Minnesota State Attorney General Keith Ellison acknowledges that the Floyd case five years ago involved a situation in which due process was denied, and five years later, the president is currently dismissing “due process. “The Minnesota Atty General also says, “Trump is trying to attack constitutional rule, attacking congressional authority and judicial decision-making.” George Floyd was an African American man killed by police who knocked on his neck and on his back, preventing him from breathing.

Published

1 week ago

June 2, 2025

Oakland Post

Mural showing the portrait of George Floyd in Mauerpark in Berlin. To the left of the portrait the lettering "I can't Breathe" was added, on the right side the three hashtags #GeorgeFloyd, #Icantbreathe and #Sayhisname. The mural was completed by Eme Street Art (facebook name) / Eme Free Thinker (signature) on 29 May 2020. (Wikimedia Commons)

By April Ryan
BlackPressUSA Newswire

“The president’s been very clear he has no intentions of pardoning Derek Chauvin, and it’s not a request that we’re looking at,” confirms a senior staffer at the Trump White House. That White House response results from public hope, including from a close Trump ally, Georgia Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene. The timing of Greene’s hopes coincides with the Justice Department’s recent decision to end oversight of local police accused of abuse. It also falls on the fifth anniversary of the police-involved death of George Floyd on May 25th. The death sparked national and worldwide outrage and became a transitional moment politically and culturally, although the outcry for laws on police accountability failed.

The death forced then-Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden to focus on deadly police force and accountability. His efforts while president to pass the George Floyd Justice in policing act failed. The death of George Floyd also put a spotlight on the Black community, forcing then-candidate Biden to choose a Black woman running mate. Kamala Harris ultimately became vice president of the United States alongside Joe Biden. Minnesota State Attorney General Keith Ellison prosecuted the cases against the officers involved in the death of Floyd. He remembers,” Trump was in office when George Floyd was killed, and I would blame Trump for creating a negative environment for police-community relations. Remember, it was him who said when the looting starts, the shooting starts, it was him who got rid of all the consent decrees that were in place by the Obama administration.”

In 2025, Police-involved civilian deaths are up by “about 100 to about 11 hundred,” according to Ellison. Ellison acknowledges that the Floyd case five years ago involved a situation in which due process was denied, and five years later, the president is currently dismissing “due process. “The Minnesota Atty General also says, “Trump is trying to attack constitutional rule, attacking congressional authority and judicial decision-making.” George Floyd was an African-American man killed by police who knocked on his neck and on his back, preventing him from breathing. During those minutes on the ground, Floyd cried out for his late mother several times. Police subdued Floyd for an alleged counterfeit $20 bill.