The Assassination of Tupac Shakur
“We just want y’all to know that at Death Row we appreciate everything y’all doing for us,” Tupac said. “My record sales, we got six million. Snoop got four million. Dogg Pound got three million. And we keep going. That means we represent that many votes. If we can represent that many votes, we gotta let these politicians be scared of us. That means anytime we drop something y’all gotta pick it up. Every time y’all call for us, we gon’ come.” — Tupac Shakur (Voting Rights Speech at Brotherhood Crusade Rally, August 15th, 1996)
Less than one month after speaking at the Brotherhood Crusade Rally, Tupac Shakur would be shot and killed. A few hours before Tupac was shot, his body guards were ordered to not carry guns. Suspicious. According to the 2007 documentary called, “Tupac Assassination: Conspiracy or Revenge”, one of the body guards stated he heard “Got em” over the Deathrow Records walkie talkie. He said he heard this around the time Tupac was shot. Then he said he heard somebody say,
“ Don’t say anything over this radio again.”
Las Vegas Sun police officer, Cathy Scott, wrote that it is “widely printed that Tupac was under surveillance by the FBI at the time of his shooting.” It is a fact that members of his entourage from Deathrow Records worked for the Los Angeles Police Department. Deathrow Records was also affiliated with an officer connected to the Rampart Scandal, in which “more than 70 officers were implicated in misconduct, including unprovoked beatings and shootings, planting and covering up evidence, stealing and dealing drugs, and perjury.”
The cousin of Tupac, and also a member of Tupac’s rap group “The Outlawz” , Yaki Gadaffi(Yafeu Akiyele Fula)was the only person who could identify the person who shot and killed Tupac. Nearly 2 months later he would be killed as well. He was in New Jersey with his girl friend and his girlfirend’s mom, when the door bell rang. His girlfriend went to answer the door and two black males were are at the door. They say they were there for Yaki. He greets the males and is shot in the head and dies.
Another suspicious component , is that the FBI files, imply the Jewish Defense League may have targeted Tupac with death threats in order to extort him. This same organization is believed to have done this to the NWA rapper, Eazy E, who passed away from HIV about a year before Tupac.
Roughly nine months after Tupac was killed, the Notorious BIG would be killed. It was confirmed that the FBI had Notorious BIG under surveillance the night he was murdered. Below, skip to 1 hour and 15 minutes and watch until the 1:16:35 mark.)
LAPD detective Russell Poole said he believed that Biggie was killed to make it look like it was an East Coast vs West Coast war.
Why would the FBI want to kill Tupac?
It was because he was a political activist, who had a platform that could reach and inspire millions. One of those people that would be inspired was Kanye West. Tupac was born into activism. His mother, Afeni Shakur, was a leader of the Black Panther Party for the New York chapter. Her first husband, Lumumba Shakur, was a key member, and got her involved with the Panthers. Her friend Jamal Joseph, was an important figure of that chapter as well.
Other activist family ties that Tupac had, was his God-Aunt, Assata Shakur. She was a member of the Black Panther Party in Oakland. Assata Shakur moved back to her hometown New York, and joined the Black Panther Party there. She would eventually join a more radical organization called the Black Liberation Army. Tupac’s biggest mentor and step father Mutulu Shakur was apart of the Black Liberation Army. Assata Shakur and Mutulu Shakur would be put on the Top Ten Most wanted List. Today Assata Shakur is still in exile in Cuba and Mutulu Shakur is still in prison.
“In my family every black male with the last name of Shakur that ever passed the age of fifteen has either been killed or put in jail,” Tupac said in his deposition. “There are no Shakurs, black male Shakurs, out right now, free, breathing, without bullet holes in them or cuffs on his hands. None.” -Tupac
The Black Panther Party was an organization formed by Huey P. Newton and Bobby Seale in 1966, to protect the African American community from police brutality. They preached self determination and established what they called, Survival Programs, to uplift the black community.
These Programs included :
-The Free Breakfast Program for impoverished black youth.
-Schools for black children.
-Free ambulance services.
-Protected the community from police brutality.
-Free Medical clinics.
-Protecting the elderly from muggings.
-Maintenance repairs for low income black residents
-Free Clothing
There were over 60 social programs that the Black Panthers provided to the black community. To learn more about those programs, click the link below.
The Panthers also worked to end gang violence and crime in the black community. Due to the Black Panther Party’s efforts to liberate blacks, the FBI declared a war against them. They documented it. One of the tactics used in this war against the Black Panthers were to:
“Prevent the rise of a ‘messiah’ who could unify and electrify the militant black nationalist movement.”
The document added,
“Malcolm X might have been such a ‘messiah’… . Martin Luther King, Stokely Carmichael, and [Nation of Islam leader] Elijah Muhammed [sic] all aspire to this position … . King could be a very real contender for this position should he abandon his supposed ‘obedience’ to ‘white, liberal doctrines’ (nonviolence).”
Since 1963 (before the Black Panthers were founded), FBI Assistant Director William Sullivan, head of the Intelligence Division, reported to Hoover about information that would destroy Dr. King and his reputation. He said “if handled properly, [could] take him off his pedestal… the Negroes will be left without a national leader of sufficiently compelling personality to steer them in the proper direction.”
This is clear evidence of the American Government admitting that their goal was to sabotage black Americans from succeeding in society. They did not want the black community to have any leaders.
Other tactics included:
1. Divide and Conquer. The goal of the FBI was to cause gang violence between the Black Panthers and other groups and to create different frictions inside the Black Party.
2. Assassinating key leaders of the Black Panther Party.
3. Using tax investigations to drain the resources and harass activists.
4. Raiding the Black Panther offices with guns and initiating shoot outs.
5. Framing and arresting black leaders on false charges etc.
6. Sending false stories to the newspapers, journalists, and media to discredit them. Ruin their reputation so they will lose support from the white and black community.
More can be read below.
One of the FBI documents that shows how to destroy black organizations and black leaders said;
“Prevent the COALITION of militant black nationalist groups. In unity there is strength; a truism that is no less valid for all its triteness. An effective coalition of black nationalist groups might be the first step toward a real “Mau Mau” [Black revolutionary army] in America, the beginning of a true black revolution.”
This explains why the FBI has tried to stop black political organizations and black gangs from uniting together. After the 1992 Bloods and Crips truce, (which Tupac was involved with)Los Angeles police wanted to keep the gang war going. One member of the Crips, named Crip Cal, talked about how the police pulled him over, arrested him, took his car, and did a drive by against the Bloods. The police did this to make it seem like the Crips committed the drive-by. This was done to keep the gang war going and gun violence in the black community going. (To here is account, skip to 1 hr and 11 min and watch until the 1 hr and 13 min and 22 second minute mark) 1:11–1:13:22
The Los Angeles police used the divide and conquer tactics back in the 60’s as well. They started a program to cause violence between the Black Panther Party and a black political organization called U.S. or United Slaves. The LAPD credited their divide and conquer program for shootings and beatings between the two groups.
“Shootings, beatings and a high degree of unrest continues to prevail in the ghetto area of southeast San Diego. Although no specific counterintelligence action can be credited with contributing to this overall situation, it is felt that a substantial amount of the unrest is directly attributable to this program.”
The FBI used the divide and conquer tactics against the leadership in the Black Panther Party. The FBI sent false messages to divide them. An anonymous letter was sent to Black Panther Party Leader,Eldridge Cleaver to cause dissension between him and other party members.
In 1969, two of the biggest gangs in Chicago, united to stop the violence that was plaguing the black community. David Barksdale, leader of the Disciple Nation and Larry Hoover, leader of the Gangster Nation, joined to form one organization. They worked towards the same economic mission of Marcus Garvey, Malcolm X, and the Black Panthers. This was, “doing for self” and controlling the economy of the neighborhood. When they formed the gangs into one, they began changing the community for the better. They opened up businesses, restaurants, community clean up programs, and advocated against truancy, and pushed for voter registration drives.The gangs were given two centers in the community. Larry Hoover operated a free lunch program to feed youth in the community. They even marched nonviolently with Dr. King, when he was trying to end housing discrimination in Chicago. Other gangs such as the Vice Lords opened up a ice cream store for teens, a recreation center, and ran after school programs. Gang members of Chicago started getting involved in politics. Chicago gangs even marched nonviolently with Dr. King, when he was trying to end housing discrimination in Chicago in 1966. The unity and activism of the gangs was one of the fears of the FBI.
Tupac stated in a 1993 Rolling Stones interview, that he believed there wouldn’t be so much violence in our communities had the FBI let the Panthers work towards their mission. The war on the Black Panthers and black gangs started about 50 years ago. Imagine what our communities would have looked like had the American government not tried to sabotage the liberation and independence of black people. Imagine how our different our inner cities would be if these black organizations like the Black Panthers were left in peace and continued to do what they were doing for over 50 years. They opened black businesses in our community, got into politics, policed and regulated our own community, fed impoverished youth, and worked to end gun violence.
In 1993, Tupac would release his second album “Strictly 4 My Niggas.” On songs like “Keep Ya Head Up” and “Holler if Ya Hear Me” he advocated for Black Men standing up, protecting, and respecting our women. He also rapped about how America “has money for war but can feed the poor.” Holler if you hear me was a song about black people rising up against police brutality and corruption in America.
Pretty soon, Tupac would start “living out his art”. Later that year Tupac and his entourage were driving back to their hotel in Atlanta after he performed at a local college.
On the way to the hotel, he noticed two white men harassing a black man. Tupac intervened and the white men pulled guns out on him and broke the passenger window. Tupac then shot the two men. The two men were off-duty police officers. He would beat the cases when it was found out that the of duty police officers, who were drunk,and had stolen their guns from the police department. The guns they stole were “throw away guns.” These are guns you throw away after committing a crime and want to get rid of the evidence. This shooting would make Tupac a hero in the black community. Mutulu Shakur spoke on the after math.
By the time of this shooting, Tupac was sued by the wife of a Texas State Trooper, who was killed by a black teenager. They claimed the killer of the cop was influenced by Tupac’s music. The Vice President at the time Dan Quayle, tried to get Tupac’s album banned. Tupac was not just preaching the ideologies of the Black Panthers, he was now carrying out those beliefs into action which was self defense and protecting his community from racial violence. He was also politicizing gangs around the country similar to what Fred Hampton did in Chicago.
An exposed document reviewed by a 1976 congressional committee detailed how the FBI planned to sabotage political musicians.
It called for FBI agents to “Show them as scurrilous and depraved. Call attention to their habits and living condition, explore every every possible embarrassment. Send in women and sex, break up marriages. Have members arrested on marijuana charges. Investigate personal conflicts or animosities between then. Use narcotics and free sex to entrap them. Use misinformation to confuse and disrupt. Get records of their bank accounts. Obtain specimen of their handwriting, provoke target groups into rivalries that may result in their death.”
Two weeks after shooting two police officers, he would be set up and framed for sexual assault. I know this is a touchy subject especially at a time where it is imperative that we as a society start believing sexual assault survivors. I believe Tupac was framed because of the FBI documents that said “send in women “ and “entrap with sex” to destroy political musicians. I will prove that these tactics were used against Tupac in this sexual assault trial. Tupac spoke about the power that the Black Panthers had at that time and how they were infiltrated. “Now why would they do this to a young black organization and why wouldn’t they do this to me?” Meaning, if they infiltrated the Panthers why wouldn’t they do the same to Tupac?
In the same interview he discussed how the FBI would get black people to join the Panthers , try to incite violence or crime in an attempt to frame the whole Black Panther Party.
Tupac’s mother and members of the New York chapter of the Black Panther Party were infiltrated by a man named Eugene Roberts. He helped set up and framed the Black Panthers on trying to blow up buildings and police stations.It would later be revealed that Eugene Roberts was the same man who infiltrated the Nation of Islam and became Malcolm X’s body guard.Despite what the public believes, it was the American Government,FBI and NYPD who were behind the murder of Malcolm X.
Shakur and the 20 other black Panther members, who were known as the Panther 21, beat the case.
It is clear that Tupac’s alleged sexual assault against a woman, was really a set up. The woman that would accuse Tupac, was introduced to him by a man named Haitian Jack. Haitian Jack was a notorious gangster in New York. He met Haitian Jack while working on the movie “Above The Rim” that he would star in. The Notorious BIG and Mike Tyson would try to warn Tupac about hanging with him. Tupac’s cousin stated in 2017 interview that Haitian Jack was a well known police informant, but they didn’t find out until too late.
Haitian Jack, who is believed to be a police informant, introduced Tupac to her at the club in New York. She would perform oral sex with on the dance floor. A few days after they met, the woman left sexual voicemail messages on Tupac’s answering machine. The next time she came over, she accused Tupac, his friend Charles Fuller, and Haitian Jack of sodomy. The female doctor who examined her said there was no evidence of forcible entry and no semen found. Leading up to the trial, the police held on to the woman’s sexual voicemails and then later said that they erased the voicemails. This tactic of withholding evidence was used against Tupac’s family friend and Black Panther Party Leader (L.A. Chapter), Geronimo Pratt.
The police also tried force other women to say Tupac sexually assaulted them. This tactic was used before, against people in the movement. In 1981 police forced others to make false statements about a black man named Mumia Jamal, who founded the Philadelphia Black Panther Party as a teenager. After leaving the BPP he went into journalism and used that to talk about injustice and police brutality. He was framed for killing an officer, despite proof that the bullet in the crime, was proven to not come from Mumia Jamal’s gun. Philadelphia police intimidated witnesses into saying Jamal confessed, even though he never confessed.
When Tupac’s lawyer went to go bail him out he saw that Haitian Jack, was bailed out by the PBA, or Policemen’s Benevolent Association. It was a national police organization. Haitian Jack’s PBA Lawyer was able to get his case severed from Tupac and Charles Fuller’s.
During interviews about the trial, Tupac began to speak out about the corruption and framing in this case.
As if the trial was not enough, in September of 1994, two teenagers shot and killed a police officer in Miluawakee. They claimed it was lyrics by Tupac that inspired them. By the end of November 1994, Tupac had disassociated himself from Haitian Jack. His cousin said there was a time he saw Haitian Jack following Tupac one day. Fast-forward, to November 30, 1994, Tupac and his friends were headed to Quad Studios, for a recording studio session.While in the lobby waiting to go up, Tupac was shot around 4–5 times and robbed of jewelry.
The same officers that arrived at the scene of the shooting, were the same officers that were also the first to arrive when the woman accused him and his entourage of sexual sexual assault, a year before. The Washington Post called this “coincidence”, a “strange twist.”
Tupac miraculous lived and showed up to court the next day. He would eventually get sentenced to 1–4 years in prison.
The short video below shows how Tupac’s powerful words to the Judge, for handling the case in a corrupt manner.
As mentioned by the 1976 congressional senate committee, the FBI detailed how to handle political musicians . One of the ways was to “provoke target groups into rivalries that may result in their death.”
In prison, Tupac was getting anonymous letters saying that the Notorious BIG was involved in the shooting at Quad studios. This was the same tactic the FBI used when they sent anonymous letters to the Black P Stone Rangers in an attempt to start murders between them and the Black Panthers.
The legendary rapper Method Man spoke about his disgust with the media for instigating the East Coast vs West Coast rivalry.
“When they put that cover up with B.I.G. and Puff on there, when B.I.G. took that picture, he didn’t take that picture thinking East vs. West. He took a picture thinking, “I’m going to be on the cover of Vibe.” What came after is what solidified East-West beef for all the dumb motherfuckers around that don’t know how to think for themselves. Maybe they just don’t like West Coast people, maybe they just don’t like East Coast people, but that fueled the fire. ..”
Tupac would develop PTSD from the shooting according to the doctors. Some of the symptoms included waking up sweating and yelling. While in prison, the guards tried many tactics to break him. His family friend Yaasmyn Fula, who would visit him, said the prison guards would threaten to kill him. Inmates did as well. Tupac said a prison guard showed him a KKK shirt and told him “We are the biggest gang in town and don’t you forget it.” Tupac would be placed in solitary confinement for 23 hours of the day.
While in Prison, Tupac’s album “Me Against the World” debuted at number one, making him the first artist ever to do so.
In October of 1995, Tupac was bailed out of prison by Suge Knight, in exchange for signing to his label Deathrow Records. Five months later, On February 13, 1996 Tupac would release his album, “All Eyes On Me”, the first rap double disk album ever. It would go platinum. Less than one year later , Tupac would be tragically shot on September 7th, 1996. Before his death he had just completed his album “Don Killuminati: The 7 Day Theory.”
All of the evidence points to Tupac being assassinated that night.
Initially the story was that Tupac and his entourage got into a fight with a member of the Crips, named Orlando Anderson. The fight took place in the lobby of the MGM casino after a Mike Tyson fight in Las Vegas. Many people including Tupac’s brother, Mopreme Shakur, believes that Orlando Anderson was placed there as a pawn. Meaning Orlando Anderson, (who said he didn’t even have a ticket to the fight), was told to come, to make it look like it was a gang related shooting.
Below, is another reason that alludes to the fact that the fight was already set up. Six months prior to the night of the shooting ,Travon Lane, an alleged blood gang member and Death Row Records affiliate was in an altercation with Anderson. While waiting in the lobby, they happen to run into Anderson. The legendary rapper and producer affiliated with Death Row Records, DJ Quik, said Travon Lane instigated the fight between Tupac and Orlando Anderson.
-The body guards were ordered not to carry weapons the night of his murder, making Tupac unprotected and vulnerable for an attack. The body guard, Michael Michael Moore stood up to Deathrow Records security and said he was going to carry his gun that night. He was taken off Tupac that night.
- Around the time Tupac was shot, the same bodyguard said he heard on the Death Row Records walkie-talkie, a man say “Got Em”. According to Michael Moore the man sounded “Caucasian”. On the way to the hospital when they found out Tupac was shot, he heard someone else say “Hey, don’t say nothing over this radio”
-The FBI had Tupac under surveillance the at the time of his murder.
-Members of DeathRow Records were apart of LAPD.
-The FBI had a 4,000 page file on Tupac Shakur. They only released 90 pages.
After Tupac’s murder it was said that Suge Knight would be used to set up rappers like Lil Wayne and Petey Pablo. Suge Knight also tried to get Lil Boosie to start a rap beef with T.I., but Lil Boosie chose not too.
One must ask, why would somebody who was once at the center of the deadliest rap beef in history, try to start rap beef between two of the biggest rappers of the South?
Although Tupac was killed, his impact around the world still lives on. His music is taught at schools like Harvard and UC Berkeley. A man from Libya said Tupac’s music was what inspired him during the revolution in the Middle East known as the “Arab Spring”.
The reason why Tupac’s Assassination is important today, is because the government is bringing back the tactics used against Tupac and the civil rights leaders in the 60’s against black people today. Today you don’t have to be the biggest rapper on the planet or be famous. All you have to do is be black and speak up against police brutality.
In 2017 the FBI put out a 12 page report, called the “Black Identity Extremist.” They detail how black people who speak up against police brutality will be labeled a terrorist and treated as such. The FBI conducted one house raid so far. Since the rise of Black Lives Matter, activists have been placed under surveillance by the FBI and kidnapped by the police. The same tactics used against our grandparents generation is still being used against black people now.