Nipsey Hussle’s Marathon Clothing Store Reportedly Targeted by Secret LAPD Program

Though it’s been nearly three years since the death of Nipsey Hussle, more and more details continue to emerge.

The latest findings come from a new report revealed on a recent episode of The Guardian’s Today in Focus podcast that shed light into the alleged LAPD targeting of the Victory Lap rapper and his Marathon Clothing store in South Central.

According to Complex, the targeting came as a result of a new secretive program called LASER (Los Angeles Strategic Extraction and Restoration), initiated back in 2011. Its aim was to rid the communities of bad actors and problematic establishments by using “predictive policing technology.”

More from Complex:

Ultimately included as part of the LASER targeting, per a new report, was Nipsey’s Marathon Clothing store Slauson Avenue in Los Angeles.

The harassment is also said to have included consumers, including by way of stopping and questioning off-duty officers who were fans of the Victory Lap artist’s music and had simply decided to visit the shop. Police interest in the location, per Sam [Asghedom, Hussle’s brother], also deterred some fans from visiting.

Additionally, as The Source notes, the LAPD allegedly tried to pressure the landlords that oversaw the store’s location to evict them though they declined to do so, citing the “positive economic impact” the store had in the community.

“We were selling shirts, socks, clothing, and shoes across the street from the Louisiana Fried Chicken,” said Blacc Sam. “They would come and arrest us, cuff us, and take all of our stuff. We would be looking up as all of that happened like ‘Damn, we just lost thousands of dollars of merchandise. Y’all not doing this to nobody else.’ We trying to be legit…Their whole goal was just to shut us down. Even though positive things were happening in the store.”

LASER was discontinued in 2019 in order to reassess their data.