>>20651997

<1997

digitz confrim

weird

What else was happening around that time that was seemingly related?

How Gary Webb Linked The CIA To The Crack Epidemic — And Paid The Ultimate Price

By Marco Margaritoff

Published December 5, 2019

Updated February 18, 2022

Gary Webb's"Dark Alliance"series boldly claimed the CIA knew about a U.S. drug trafficking scheme that ravaged the country's inner cities to fund Nicaragua's Contra rebels. Years later, he shot himself in the head.

In a three-part exposé, investigative journalist Gary Webb reported that a guerrilla army in Nicaragua had used crack cocaine sales in Los Angeles’ black neighborhoods to fund an attempted coup of Nicaragua’s socialist government in the 1980s — and that the CIA had purposefully funded it.

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It sounds like a Tom Clancy novel, right? Except it actually happened.

The series of reports, published in the San Jose Mercury News in 1996, set off a firestorm of protests in L.A. and in black communities across the country,as African-Americans became outraged by the assertion that the U.S. government could have supported — or at least turned a blind eye to — a drug epidemic that had ravaged their population while at the same time incarcerating a generation with Ronald Reagan’s “War on Drugs.”

For Webb, his reporting “challenged the widely held belief that crack use began in African American neighborhoods not for any tangible reason but mainly because of the kind of people who lived in them.”

https://allthatsinteresting.com/gary-webb

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>>20652049

David Anthony Mack (born May 30, 1961) is a former professional runner and Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) officer involved inthe Rampart Division's Community Resources Against Street Hoodlums (CRASH) unit. He was one of the central figures in the LAPD Rampart police corruption scandal.Mack was arrested in December 1997 for robbery of $722,000 from a South Central Los Angeles branch of the Bank of America. He was sentenced to fourteen years and three months in federal prison. Mack has never revealed the whereabouts of the money.

Early life

As an athlete, David Mack ran track for Locke High School and was champion at the CIF California State Meet at 880 yards for two years in a row.[2]

He attended the University of Oregon where he ran track with his high school rival Jeff West. After West transferred to UCLA, Mack considered following suit, but was convinced to stay at UO by coach Bill Dellinger.[3] While in college, Mack dated world record holder in the 100m & 200m, Flo Jo.[4] In 1980, as a freshman in college, he finished sixth in the Olympic Trials.[5] Mack won three Pac-10 conference titles in the 800 and in his junior year, the NCAA Division I Championship in the 800 meters.

As a professional, Mack ran for Santa Monica Track Club. He qualified for the United States national team, running the 800 metres in the 1983 World Championships in Athletics but failed to advance to the final.[6] He was the rabbit in Sydney Maree's 1500 meter world record and one week later rabbited Steve Ovett to surpass that record.[7] A stress fracture in his shin caused him to fail to make it out of the heats at the 1984 USATF Championships. In 1985 he ran 1:43.35 seconds which at the time was the second fastest time ever by an American and still ranks 9th fastest.[8] He failed to advance from the heats in the 800m at the 1987 World Championships in Athletics.[9] Beset by fatigue from iron deficiency, his last professional race was in 1988.

Bank robbery

In August 1997, Mack's lover, Errolyn Romero, became employed at a Bank of America branch near the University of Southern California campus. On November 6, 1997, Mack entered the bank and claimed he wanted to access his safe deposit box. Romero admitted him to the secure area, where he threw her to the floor and robbed the vault of $722,000.

In her capacity as branch assistant manager, Romero had ordered double the usual amount of cash to be on hand at the bank on the day of the robbery. After one month of investigation, Romero confessed to her role in the crime and implicated Mack as the mastermind.[10] He was arrested in December 1997. His two accomplices were never caught.[9][11]

Mack was sentenced to fourteen years and three months in prison and has never revealed the whereabouts of the money.[12] He was released on May 14, 2010.[13][14]

According to the Tupac documentary Assassination: Battle for Compton, citing official legal documents, a reliable jail informant by the name of Ken Boagni, who befriended Rafael Perez in prison, stated Perez claimed the money stolen in the bank robbery was intended to go to Harry Billups, also known as Amir Muhammed, who was friends with Mack, for allegedly carrying out the murder of late rapper Christopher Wallace, also known as Biggie Smalls, because Billups was not paid in full by his contractors, namely Reggie Wright Jr. and David Kenner, because he failed to also murder Sean Combs, the second intended target. Boagni claimed both Perez and Mack were involved in the murder of Wallace, but Billups was the shooter.

Relation to the murder of The Notorious B.I.G.

Main article: Rampart scandal

In April 2007, the estate of Christopher Wallace, a rapper who performed under the name The Notorious B.I.G., filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the City of Los Angeles, which also named Mack, Pérez, and Nino Durden as defendants.

The lawsuit alleged that the officers conspired to murder Wallace, and that Pérez and Mack were present the night of the drive-by shooting which claimed his life on March 9, 1997.[17] In 2010, a federal judge dismissed the lawsuit against the city and the officers.[18]

Depictions in media

In the biography film City of Lies, David Mack is played by Shamier Anderson. The film features the 1997 bank robbery.[19]

Omar Gooding depicted Mack in the television series Unsolved.

>>20652065

>Relation to the murder of The Notorious B.I.G.

>Main article: Rampart scandal

>In April 2007, the estate of Christopher Wallace, a rapper who performed under the name The Notorious B.I.G., filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the City of Los Angeles, which also named Mack, Pérez, and Nino Durden as defendants.

The Rampart scandal was a police corruption scandal which unfolded in Los Angeles, California, United States, during the late 1990s and early 2000s. The scandal concerned widespread criminal activity within the Community Resources Against Street Hoodlums (CRASH) anti-gang unit of the Los Angeles Police Department's Rampart Division. More than 70 police officers were initially implicated in various forms of misconduct, including unprovoked shootings and beatings, planting of false evidence, stealing and dealing narcotics, bank robbery, perjury, and cover-ups thereof.[1]

Of the 70 officers initially implicated, enough evidence was found to bring 58 before an internal administrative board. However, only 24 were actually found to have committed any wrongdoing, with twelve given suspensions of various lengths, seven forced into resignation or retirement, and five terminated.[2] As a result of the falsified evidence and perjury by Rampart CRASH officers, 106 prior criminal convictions were overturned.[3]

The scandal resulted in more than 140 civil lawsuits against the City of Los Angeles, costing the city an estimated $125 million in settlements.[4] Partly as a result of the scandal, Mayor James Hahn did not rehire Police Chief Bernard C. Parks in 2002. Both the scandal and the de facto firing of Parks are believed to have precipitated Hahn's defeat by Antonio Villaraigosa in the 2005 mayoral election.[5][6]

Timeline of scandal

March 18, 1997 – Officer Kevin Gaines road rage shootout

Around 4 p.m. on March 18, 1997, LAPD undercover officer Frank Lyga shot and killed a plainclothes Rampart CRASH officer, Kevin Gaines, in self-defense, following a case of road rage.[7][8]

According to Lyga and other witnesses, Gaines pulled his green Mitsubishi Montero up to Lyga's Buick and flashed gang signs.[8]

After, Gaines followed Lyga and brandished a .45 ACP handgun. Lyga took out his gun and called for backup using a hidden radio activated by a foot pedal, saying, "Hey, I got a problem. I've got a black guy in a green Jeep coming up here! He's got a gun!" Pulling up at a stop light, Lyga later testified that he heard Gaines shout, "I'll cap you." Lyga fired his 9×19mm Beretta 92 duty pistol into Gaines' SUV twice, one of the bullets lodging in his heart. Lyga radioed one final transmission: "I just shot this guy! I need help! Get up here!" Lyga reported that Gaines was the first to pull a gun and that he responded in self-defense.

In an interview on PBS' Frontline, he said, "In my training experience this guy had 'I'm a gang member' written all over him." Inside of Gaines's car, a Death Row Greatest Hits CD was found, as he was listening to Death Row's inclusion of No Vaseline at the time of the confrontation.

In the ensuing investigation, the LAPD discovered that Gaines had apparently been involved in similar road rage incidents, threatening drivers by brandishing his gun. The investigation also revealed that Gaines was associated with both the Death Row Records record label and its controversial owner and CEO, Suge Knight.

Investigators learned that Death Row Records, which was alleged to be associated with the Bloods street gang, was hiring off-duty LAPD officers to serve as security guards. Following three separate internal investigations, Lyga was exonerated of any wrongdoing. The LAPD concluded that Lyga's shooting was "in policy" and not racially or improperly motivated.[4]

Within three days of the incident, the Gaines family retained attorney Johnnie Cochran and filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the city of Los Angeles, California, for $25 million. The city eventually settled with Cochran for $250,000.[4]

Lyga was angry the city settled, denying him the chance to fully clear his name. Judge Schoettler wrote a letter to LAPD Chief Bernard C. Parks, stating, "Had the matter been submitted to me for a determination, I would have found in favor of the City of Los Angeles." Schoettler's letter alleged political reasons for settling the case, namely City Attorney James Hahn's planned run for mayor and his desire to court black voters.[4]

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November 6, 1997 – Officer David Mack bank robbery

On November 6, 1997, $722,000 was stolen in an armed robbery of a Los Angeles Bank of America branch. After one month of investigation, assistant bank manager Errolyn Romero confessed to her role in the crime and implicated her boyfriend LAPD officer David Mack as the mastermind. Mack was sentenced to fourteen years and three months in federal prison. He has never revealed the whereabouts of the money and, while incarcerated, bragged to fellow inmates that he would become a millionaire by the time of his release.[7] He was released from prison on May 14, 2010.[9]

February 26, 1998 – Rampart Station beating

On February 26, 1998, Rampart CRASH officer Brian Hewitt brought Ismael Jimenez, a member of the 18th Street Gang, into the Rampart police station for questioning. According to CRASH officer Rafael Pérez's recorded testimony, Hewitt "got off" on beating suspects. In the course of questioning, he beat the handcuffed Jimenez in the chest and stomach until he vomited blood.

After his release, Jimenez went to the emergency room and told doctors he had been beaten by Hewitt and his partner Daniel Lujan while in custody. Following an investigation, Hewitt was fired from the LAPD. Jimenez was awarded $231,000 in a civil settlement with the city of Los Angeles. Hewitt served time in federal prison for the distribution of drugs and conspiracy to commit murder and has since been released.[4]

May 1998 – Investigative task force created

On March 27, 1998, LAPD officials discovered that eight pounds of cocaine were missing from an evidence room. Within a week, detectives focused their investigation on Pérez. Concerned with a CRASH unit that had officers working off-duty for Death Row Records, robbing banks, and stealing cocaine, Parks established an internal investigative task force in May 1998.

The task force, later named the Rampart Corruption Task Force, focused on the prosecution of Pérez. Completing an audit of the LAPD property room revealed another pound of missing cocaine which had been booked following a prior arrest by Lyga, the officer who had shot Gaines the year before. Investigators speculated that Pérez may have stolen the cocaine booked by Lyga in retaliation for Gaines' shooting.[4]

August 25, 1998 – Pérez arrested

Pérez, at that time a nine-year veteran of the LAPD, was arrested on August 25, 1998, for the unauthorized withdrawal and theft of six pounds of cocaine from the evidence room. The cocaine was estimated to be worth $800,000 on the street, or $120,000 wholesale. Although Pérez signed a phony name on the forms when he checked out the drugs, his signature was a "dead bang" match.[10][11]

As he was arrested, Pérez reportedly asked, "Is this about the bank robbery?" He would later deny that he had any knowledge of Mack's bank robbery and never testified against Mack. Investigators would later discover eleven additional instances of suspicious cocaine transfers. Pérez eventually admitted to ordering cocaine evidence out of property and replacing it with Bisquick.[4]

On September 8, 1999, following a mistrial, Pérez agreed to cut a deal with investigators. He pleaded guilty to the cocaine theft in exchange for providing prosecutors information about two "bad" shootings and three other CRASH officers engaged in illegal activity. For this deal, Pérez received a five-year prison sentence as well as immunity from further prosecution of misconduct short of murder.

Over the next nine months, he met with investigators more than 50 times and provided more than 4,000 pages in sworn testimony. Pérez's testimony implicated about 70 officers of misconduct, but only a dozen officers were suspended or forced to resign.[4]

Framing

Pérez framed four members of the Temple Street gang as being associated with the murder of Mexican Mafia member Miguel "Lizard" Malfavon. The incident took place at a McDonald's on Alvarado Street, where four supposed members all planned to kill Malfavon while he tried to collect "taxes" from the gang.

Pérez found a material witness who had blood on her dress, and she named four gang members from Temple Street. He repeatedly changed the name of the main killer and ended up framing Anthony "Stymie" Adams as the one who fatally shot Malfavon in the head with a rifle in the neighboring apartment

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CRASH culture

In extensive testimony to investigators, Pérez provided a detailed portrait of the culture of the elite CRASH unit. Pérez insisted that 90% of CRASH officers were "in the loop", knowingly framing civilians and perjuring themselves on the witness stand. Pérez claims his superiors were aware of and encouraged CRASH officers to engage in misconduct; the goal of the unit was to arrest gang members by any means necessary.

Pérez claimed CRASH officers were awarded plaques for shooting civilians and suspects, with extra honors if such persons were killed. Pérez alleges that CRASH officers carried spare guns in their "war bags" to plant on civilians and suspects, in order to avoid responsibility for their alleged crime. In recorded testimony, Pérez revealed the CRASH motto: "We intimidate those who intimidate others."[3]

CRASH officers would get together at the Short Stop, a bar near Dodger Stadium in Echo Park to drink and celebrate shootings.[13] Supervisors handed out plaques to shooters, containing red or black playing cards. A red card indicated a wounding and a black card indicated a killing, which was considered more prestigious. Pérez testified that at least one Rampart lieutenant attended these celebrations.[14]

Rampart officers wore tattoos of the CRASH logo, a skull with a cowboy hat encircled with poker cards depicting the "dead man's hand", aces and eights.[14]

Rampart ties to Death Row Records

The Rampart Corruption Task Force investigators discovered that hip hop mogul Suge Knight, owner of Death Row Records, had hired several of the corrupt Rampart officers for security at various times including Nino Durden, Kevin Gaines, David Mack, and Rafael Pérez.Knight was hiring off-duty Rampart policemen to work for Death Row as security guards for substantial amounts of money. After Gaines was killed, investigators discovered Gaines drove a Mercedes-Benz and wore designer suits, and they found a receipt in his apartment for a $952 restaurant tab at the Los Angeles hangout, Monty's Steakhouse.[7]

Ties to the Bloods

According to Frank Lyga, who shot him, Kevin Gaines was flashing Blood gang signs and waving a gun.[15]

Ties to the murder of The Notorious B.I.G.

On April 16, 2007, the estate of Christopher George Latore Wallace, a.k.a. The Notorious B.I.G., filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the City of Los Angeles, which also named as defendants Rampart officers Durden, Mack, and Pérez.[16] The lawsuit alleges that Durden, Mack, and Pérez conspired to murder Christopher Wallace, and Pérez and Mack were present on the night of the murder outside the Petersen Automotive Museum on Wilshire Boulevard, on March 9, 1997.[17] On April 5, 2010, the Wallace family withdrew their lawsuit and the claims against the City and the Rampart officers. Perry R. Sanders Jr., a lawyer for the estate, insisted the case was being withdrawn only to avoid interfering with what he called a "reinvigorated" police investigation, and he emphasized that since the suit was dismissed without prejudice, it could be refiled.[18]

LAPD investigators Brian Tyndall and Russell Poole also believed Mack and other Rampart police were involved in a conspiracy to kill Wallace.[19] Poole claimed that Chief Parks refused to investigate their claims of Mack's involvement, suppressed their 40-page report, and instructed investigators not to pursue their inquiries. Poole, an 18-year veteran of the force, quit the LAPD in protest, and later filed a lawsuit against the LAPD for violating his First Amendment rights by preventing him from making his information public.[20]

Record settlement

The city of Los Angeles faced more than 140 civil suits resulting from the Rampart scandal and paid total estimated settlement costs around $125 million.[4]

Javier Ovando was awarded a $15 million settlement on November 21, 2000, the largest police misconduct settlement in Los Angeles history. Twenty-nine other civil suits were settled for nearly $11 million

>>20652098

Rampart investigation cover up

There have been multiple allegations that Chief Parks and members of the LAPD were actively involved in obstructing the Rampart Investigation.[21] Parks was in charge of Internal Affairs when Gaines and other Rampart officers were first discovered to have ties to the Bloods and Death Row Records. Parks is said to have protected these officers from investigation.[6]

According to Rampart Corruption Task Force Detective Poole, Chief Parks failed to pursue the Hewitt Investigation for a full six months. When Poole presented Parks with a 40-page report detailing the connection between Mack and the murder of Notorious B.I.G., the report was suppressed.[6]

On September 26, 2000, Poole filed a federal civil rights lawsuit against the city of Los Angeles and Chief Parks. Poole, lead investigator on the Lyga-Gaines shooting and member of the Rampart Corruption Task Force, resigned from the department and claimed in his civil suit that Parks shut down his efforts to fully investigate the extent of corruption within the department.

Poole specified conversations and direct orders in which Chief Parks prevented him from pursuing his investigation of the criminal activities of David Mack and Kevin Gaines, notably involving the investigation of the murder of Christopher Wallace.[22]

Many city officials, including Los Angeles County District Attorney Gil Garcetti, expressed a lack of confidence with Parks' handling of the investigation.[22]

On September 19, 2000, the Los Angeles City Council voted 10 to 2 to accept a consent decree allowing the U.S. Department of Justice to oversee and monitor reforms within the LAPD for a period of five years. The Justice Department, which had been investigating the LAPD since 1996, agreed not to pursue a civil rights lawsuit against the city. Los Angeles Mayor Richard Riordan and Police Chief Parks opposed the consent decree, but were forced to back down in the face of overwhelming support by the city council.[23]

The "L.A.P.D. Board of Inquiry into the Rampart Area Corruption Incident" report was released in March 2000. It made 108 recommendations for changes in LAPD policies and procedures. The Board of Inquiry report, sanctioned by Parks, was widely criticized for not addressing structural problems within the LAPD.[23]

"An Independent Analysis of the Los Angeles Police Department's Board of Inquiry Report on the Rampart Scandal" was published in September 2000 by University of Southern California Law School Professor Erwin Chemerinsky, currently the Dean of University of California, Berkeley School of Law, at the request of the Los Angeles Police Protective League, the police union. Chemerinsky outlined six specific criticisms of the Board of Inquiry report, namely that the LAPD minimized the scope and nature of the corruption, and abetted the corruption through its own internal negligence or corrupt policies. Chemerinsky called for an independent commission to investigate corruption and a consent decree between the City of Los Angeles and the Justice Department to monitor effective reform.[23]

The "Report of the Rampart Independent Review Panel", published in November 2000, created by a panel of over 190 community members, issued 72 findings and 86 recommendations. The report noted the Police Commission had been "undermined by the Mayor's Office" and that the Inspector General's Office had been "hindered by … lack of cooperation by the (LAPD) in responding to requests for information".[23]

Political and cultural aftermath

>>20652106

The newly elected Mayor James Hahn did not rehire Parks in 2002. This arguably caused Hahn to lose the support of South Los Angeles' black community, leading to his defeat by Antonio Villaraigosa in the 2005 election.[5]

In 2002, the television series The Shield premiered, depicting a band of rogue Los Angeles police officers. The program was so directly inspired by the Rampart Scandal that "Rampart" was nearly used as the series title.[24] The title was presumably changed in order to avoid potential production issues and conflicts with the LAPD.

In 2003, the Blue Ribbon Rampart Review Panel, chaired by Constance L. Rice of the Advancement Project, was convened by the Los Angeles Police Commission and Chief William J. Bratton. The panel's report was made public in 2006.

In the film Crash (2004), a black police officer is shot by an off-duty white officer, in a turn of events very similar to the Kevin Gaines shooting. The black officer is later found out to be corrupt, just as in the case of Kevin Gaines. In the film, the corrupt nature of the black officer is suppressed by the mayoral hopeful, in order to gain the black vote.

The action thriller movie Cellular (2004) featured a plot involving corrupt LAPD cops. Though it was not a serious crime drama, it used the Rampart scandal to lend some credibility to the plot, showing a documentary segment of the Rampart scandal in the bonus features of the DVD.

The plot of Rockstar Games' controversial game Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas (2004), set in 1992 in the fictional city of Los Santos (based on Los Angeles), involves three corrupt CRASH officers. The CRASH motto, "intimidate those who intimidate others", is spoken directly by one of these characters.

The crime drama movie Faster (2010) featured a police officer, played by Billy Bob Thornton, who is revealed to be a corrupt former Rampart CRASH officer.

The film Rampart (2011) takes place during the Rampart scandal as the main character, Dave Brown, faces the consequences of his career.

Other films inspired by the Rampart scandal include Training Day (2001), L.A.P.D.: To Protect and to Serve (2001), Dirty (2005), and Street Kings (2008).

In the N.W.A biographical film Straight Outta Compton (2015), there is a scene where during a studio session, Dr. Dre recognizes a police officer (presumed to be David Mack or Rafael Pérez) among Suge Knight's entourage.

Christopher Dorner, who in February 2013 carried out a series of shootings until killed during a police manhunt in Southern California, referenced the Rampart scandal in his "Facebook manifesto", which began:

From: Christopher Jordan Dorner

To: America

Subj: Last resort

I know most of you who personally know me are in disbelief to hear from media reports that I am suspected of committing such horrendous murders and have taken drastic and shocking actions in the last couple of days.

Unfortunately, this is a necessary evil that I do not enjoy but must partake and complete for substantial change to occur within the LAPD and reclaim my name. The department has not changed since the Rampart and Rodney King days. It has gotten worse. …[25]

The Rampart scandal was reviewed in the 2018 film City of Lies, based upon the 2002 book LAbyrinth: A Detective Investigates the Murders of Tupac Shakur and Notorious B.I.G., the Implication of Death Row Records' Suge Knight, and the Origins of the Los Angeles Police Scandal by Randall Sullivan.[26] Starring Johnny Depp as Detective Russell Poole and featuring Neil Brown Jr., Shamier Anderson and Amin Joseph as CRASH officers Rafael Pérez, David Mack and Kevin Gaines respectively, the film depicts Poole's investigation of the CRASH unit's criminal activities, their ties to Death Row Records, and his theory of their involvement in the murder of rapper Notorious B.I.G.[27][28][29]

City of Lies was scheduled to be released in September 2018, but in July the release was canceled and the film was shelved.[30] The stated reason was due to the negative publicity of Depp's ongoing legal issues, including a lawsuit brought against him that month by the film's location manager. However, director Brad Furman stated he believes Depp is a scapegoat and the studio was pressured by outside forces into cancelling the film.[31] The premiere of City of Lies took place on December 8, 2018, when it was screened out of competition at the Noir Film Festival in Italy.[32]

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>>20652086

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>>20652106

>>20652110

Long ass article. Won't post entire thing

https://www.thedailybeast.com/former-fbi-agent-how-the-lapd-derailed-my-investigation-into-biggie-smalls-murder

Former FBI Agent: How the LAPD Derailed My Investigation Into Biggie Smalls’ Murder

EXCLUSIVE

Former FBI Agent Phil Carson, who led the investigation into the LAPD’s alleged role in the murder of rap legend Notorious B.I.G., speaks publicly for the first time.

Justin Rohrlich

Reporter

Don Sikorski

Updated Nov. 11, 2018 2:28AM EST / Published Nov. 10, 2018 9:03PM EST

As the FBI agent who ran the investigation into the LAPD’s alleged role in the March 9, 1997, murder of hip-hop legend the Notorious B.I.G. outside the Petersen Automotive Museum in Los Angeles, Phil Carson knows things no one else knows. He knows what’s hidden in the heavily redacted case files released by the Bureau in 2011; he knows how it happened; and he knows who did it. And he’s never revealed any of it publicly, to anyone—until now.

Carson retired from the Bureau in September 2017, almost two decades after Biggie Smalls, born Christopher Wallace, was shot dead. Carson worked on some of the FBI’s most challenging public corruption cases, but keeping quiet about the Biggie case has, in a way, been his most difficult task.

“You have no idea,” Carson told The Daily Beast in a series of exclusive interviews. “It didn’t just eat at me a little bit—it tore me apart pretty good.”

The LAPD, “all the way up to the very, very top,” did their best to protect the dirty cops Carson believes helped orchestrate Biggie’s murder. As part of that effort, powerful forces launched what Carson described as a campaign to assassinate his own character. According to Carson, these forces included the Los Angeles Times, the City Attorney of Los Angeles, members of LAPD Chief Bill Bratton’s inner circle, and cops in the department’s famed Robbery-Homicide Division.

“I can prove to you how they not only knew what was going on, but how they obstructed this case, how they derailed it,” said Carson. “I was young enough and naive enough not to realize how big and powerful these people were.”

“I’m glad Phil Carson, whatever’s heavy on his heart, is coming forward and letting the truth be known,” said “Big Gene” Deal, a bodyguard for Sean “Diddy” Combs who witnessed the shooting and met with Carson multiple times as part of the FBI investigation. “Phil was a straight shooter. By him coming out and doing this right here, it makes me feel good.”

….

Although he was in his early 30s and several years older than most of his classmates, Carson finished first overall in physical training and defensive tactics at Quantico, and third overall in academics. With his banking and financial background, Carson was assigned to a bank fraud squad in Los Angeles.

Having been told by Bureau veterans that the first year on the job would set the tone for the rest of his career, Carson volunteered “to be part of anything and everything.”

“If they needed another person to go to an interview, I would do it,” Carson said. “If they needed somebody to do surveillance on the weekend, I’d always raise my hand. I wasn't married, I didn't have kids. I would work 24 hours a day.”

Duly impressed, a group of more senior agents that Carson had gotten to know helped him transfer to WCC-4, a white-collar crime squad targeting public corruption.

Early on, Carson put together what he described as an airtight case against a corrupt ATF agent who was allegedly dealing cocainein the Nickerson Gardens housing project in Watts. He had sworn statements from sources who identified the agent in photo arrays, and the agent failed a polygraph test administered by the FBI. Still, Carson says ATF brass swept the case under the rug and transferred the agent to another region—with a promotion.

>>20652389

>Former FBI Agent: How the LAPD Derailed My Investigation Into Biggie Smalls’ Murder

“That was the first time that I was exposed to dealing with upper management of another agency on how they protect their own,” said Carson. “And that stuck with me as I started working these other corruption cases.”

The ’90s were a dark period for the LAPD. In 1991, Rodney King was beaten by LAPD officers, which led to a series of departmental reforms. The officers’ acquittal the following year helped spark the infamous 1992 L.A. riots, which led to the deaths of 63 people and forced LAPD Chief Daryl Gates’ retirement. Willie Williams, his successor and the LAPD’s first African-American chief, only lasted one five-year term. Bernard Parks, a 32-year LAPD veteran, was sworn in as the beleaguered department’s 52nd chief on August 22, 1997.

That November, a Bank of America branch in South Central LA was robbed in broad daylight by off-duty LAPD officer David Mack. Mack, who wore a dark suit and sunglasses, flashed an automatic weapon and made off with $722,000 from the vault. Mack’s salary at that time was in the mid-$50,000 range, and he owed at least $20,000 to the IRS and nearly that much in credit card bills. However, just two days after the robbery, Mack treated two of his LAPD buddies, Sammy Martin and Rafael Perez, to a lavish trip to Las Vegas, where they stayed in a $1,500-a-night suite and gambled all night. When he got back to Los Angeles, Mack bought himself an SUV, a bunch of new furniture, and put $7,000 into his bank account.

Investigators immediately focused on the bank’s assistant manager Errolyn Romero, who had suspiciously ordered an abnormally large delivery of cash to the bank the day before. Cops administered a polygraph test, which Romero failed.

After nearly a month of intense questioning, Romero finally confessed to her role in the holdup and told police that the bank had in fact been robbed by her boyfriend, David Mack.

Mack was arrested in early December 1997. He refused to tell investigators who his accomplices were or where he hid the money, and was later sentenced to 14 years and three months in federal prison.

A few months later, six pounds of cocaine was discovered missing from an LAPD evidence room.

The officer who had signed for it was Rafael Perez, who had checked out the cocaine under another cop’s name. A girlfriend of Perez’s then sold the drugs on the street for him.

Investigators from LAPD’s internal affairs division began tailing Perez, arresting him the morning of Aug. 25, 1998. The jury deadlocked in his trial for possession of cocaine for sale, grand theft, and forgery. The better part of a year went by as Perez awaited retrial; cops looking into his alleged crimes managed to find further evidence that gave them even more leverage.

Perez decided to cut a deal. In exchange for a five-year prison sentence, which would mean just 16 months with credit for time served and good behavior factored in, Perez promised to tell investigators everything he knew about police misconduct within the LAPD Rampart Division. The agreement would also shield Perez from any further prosecution, and his wife, who cops said was aware of Perez’s ongoing criminal enterprise, would not face any charges.

“All they thought was Rafael Perez was going to come in and tell them how he was stealing cocaine out of this evidence locker and maybe implicate a few other cases regarding that,” explained Carson. “Well, Perez ends up dropping the bombshell about all this other corruption that had been going on in Rampart, including shooting unarmed people, planting throw-down guns as evidence, as well planting drug evidence on guys.”

It was then that the feds got involved, because, said Carson, “this is no longer just an [LAPD] internal affairs investigation. You’re talking about civil-rights violations, you’re talking about a whole host of federal offenses.”

The FBI set up a task force called the Rampart Federal Investigation Team, or RamFIT. Roughly 40 of the LAPD’s top detectives applied to join. The position meant the chosen cops would get federal credentials, a desk at the FBI office in the federal building in downtown L.A., and “a huge feather in your cap as you look to promote within the ranks of the LAPD.”

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>>20652401

Fewer than 10 of those 40 were picked; each was then paired up with Carson and the other FBI agents assigned to the unit. There was a supervisor from the FBI at the helm, and an LAPD lieutenant who Carson says looked like Leslie Nielsen from the Naked Gun films also joined the team.

Perez had identified more than 30 other Rampart Division cops as corrupt—including his partner, officer Nino Durden. Each two-man RamFIT team was then handed a portion of the wide-ranging caseload to investigate further.

“Initially, we’re thinking that this is going to be the absolute hands-down, biggest police corruption case that this country has ever seen,” recalled Carson.

They spent more than a year digging into it all. But while many of Perez’s allegations turned out to be legit, some of the things he told investigators didn’t pan out, said L.J. Connolly, another FBI agent on the RamFIT team.

“The bottom line is, it wasn’t as big as Perez had said it was, but it wasn’t as small as we had thought, either,” Connolly told The Daily Beast. “Cases were falling apart because we couldn’t corroborate a lot of these things. So we kind of pared things down, the taskforce didn’t need to be as big as it was, and it kind of whittled down to Perez and Durden.”

>>20652404

Article from 1999

Ex-LAPD Officer Is Suspect in Rapper’s Slaying, Records Show

By MATT LAIT and SCOTT GLOVER

Dec. 9, 1999 12 AM PT

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TIMES STAFF WRITERS

A former Los Angeles police officer already in prison for bank robbery is among the suspects in the 1997 slaying of rap star Notorious B.I.G., according to sources and confidential LAPD documents obtained by The Times.

Among the theories investigators are pursuing is that ex-Officer David A. Mack conspired with Death Row Records founder Marion “Suge” Knight to arrange the contract killing of the 24-year-old rap sensation whose real name was Christopher Wallace, according to a former detective on the case.

Specifically, detectives are trying to determine whether Mack arranged for a longtime friend to carry out the attack outside the Petersen Automotive Museum on March 9, 1997, according to sources and Los Angeles Police Department documents. Police would not say whether they have been able to locate or question the man they suspect of being the gunman under that theory. He is Amir Muhammad, who was known as Harry Billups when he and Mack were college classmates at the University of Oregon, according to sources and documents. Muhammad apparently dropped from sight after visiting Mack in prison on Dec. 26, 1997.

No one has been arrested or charged in the shooting, which some investigators believe was motivated by a bitter bicoastal feud between Death Row and a rival rap record label based in New York City. Eight months ago, LAPD homicide detectives served search warrants on several locations linked to Death Row and the man in charge of its security.

Mack, who is serving a 14-year prison sentence for a Nov. 6, 1997, bank holdup, has not been publicly identified as a suspect in Wallace’s slaying. But according to sources and LAPD investigative documents, detectives have been trying to build a case against the former police officer for nearly two years.

Mack’s attorney, Donald M. Re, rejected the notion that Mack was involved in Wallace’s slaying.

“It sounds absolutely ridiculous to me,” Re said.

Knight’s attorney, Robin J. Yanes, also dismissed the theory.

“A year ago it came up and now they’re recycling it to cover their butts,” Yanes said. “Suge doesn’t know” Mack.

Mack is a former partner and close friend of Rafael Perez, the disgraced officer at the center of the LAPD’s unfolding corruption scandal. The two officers, in fact, partied in Las Vegas two days after the bank robbery, spending thousands of dollars. Investigators on the LAPD corruption task force are continuing to look for a criminal link between the two former partners.

https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1999-dec-09-mn-42032-story.html

>>20652447

Someone didn't get the memo.

5 months later

>He isAmir Muhammad, who was known as Harry Billupswhen he and Mack were college classmates at the University of Oregon, according to sources and documents. Muhammad apparently dropped from sight after visiting Mack in prison on Dec. 26, 1997.

Man No Longer Under Scrutiny in Rapper’s Death

By CHUCK PHILIPS

May 3, 2000 12 AM PT

A mortgage broker identified as the suspected assassin of rap star Notorious B.I.G. is no longer under scrutiny by police, according to the lead detective in the case.

Amir Muhammad, who learned he was under suspicion only after an article was published in The Times Dec. 9, said he was stunned and angered by the report.

“I’m not a murderer, I’m a mortgage broker,” he said in an interview at his Southern California house.

According to a theory at one point taken seriously by police, Muhammad was hired to kill the hip-hop performer by rival rap mogul Marion “Suge” Knight and Muhammad’s longtime friend David A. Mack, a former Los Angeles police officer now serving a prison term for bank robbery.

The police have offered conflicting accounts about Muhammad’s status as a suspect. The day after The Times article was published, an LAPD spokesman said it was accurate. But a week later, detectives told a lawyer representing Muhammad that his client was not a suspect, the attorney said. The lawyer said detectives initially indicated they wanted to interview Muhammad, but never followed through with their request.

Dave Martin, the LAPD detective in charge of the case, disputed the theory, which was developed by other investigators.

“We are not pursuing that theory and have not been for more than a year,” Martin said, adding however, that until the case is solved “no theory can be completely discounted.”

Muhammad says he is upset that someone in law enforcement would leak confidential investigative reports to a newspaper. But he is angrier with The Times for publishing the story.

“The fact is the police have never talked to me. And the reason they haven’t is because I had nothing to do with this horrible crime,” Muhammad said. “The police didn’t chase this lead because they obviously realized at some point it wasn’t true.

“How can something so completely false end up on the front page of a major newspaper?” he asked.

In the December article, police sources said they hadn’t been able to find Muhammad and suggested he had disappeared after the killing.

“The story made it sound like I was some mystery assassin who committed this heinous crime and then just dropped off the face of the Earth–which is the furthest thing from the truth,” said Muhammad.

“I live and work right here in the Southland area and have done so for many years. I belong to the same fitness club, where I work out practically every day. I play golf and tennis at the same spots every week. I’m not that difficult to find,” he said, noting that his business advertised in local publications during the period when police were purportedly on his trail.

Three weeks after the story ran, in fact, The Times found Muhammad and set up a series of meetings with him and his attorney. Muhammad agreed to be interviewed under the condition that The Times not identify the name or location of his business and residence to protect his family and associates.

Muhammad noted the Dec. 9 newspaper article reproduced police documents displaying his driver’s license photo next to a police sketch of the alleged killer.

Muhammad says that he did not leave his house for three days for fear that some irate rap fan might recognize him and retaliate. Muhammad says he spent most of that time on the phone trying to calm his parents, friends, business associates and clients who were worried about his safety.

“You never know what some nut is going to do,” Muhammad said. “It’s frightening, really. The story had a big impact on my life.”

Muhammad was also concerned that fallout from being identified as a suspect in the story could damage his reputation in the real estate community, where he has been brokering loans throughout Southern California since shortly after graduating from college in 1984.

>>20652469

>Man No Longer Under Scrutiny in Rapper’s Death

It was while attending the University of Oregon that Muhammad, whose birth name is Harry Billups, met Mack. Police began investigating Muhammad as a suspect in the case because of his relationship with Mack, a close friend of former LAPD Officer Rafael Perez, the convicted drug dealer turned informant at the heart of the ongoing Rampart police corruption scandal.

Muhammad said he and Mack were roommates in a college dorm, played sports together and socialized frequently during their college years.

After Mack married, he and his wife asked Muhammad to become the godfather of their two children. Over the years, however, Muhammad says he began to spend less time with Mack and more time with his godchildren, attending sporting and school events with Mack’s family, as the former officer spent progressively less time at home.

By the time Mack began serving a 14-year prison sentence for a Nov. 6, 1997, bank robbery, the two men had seen each other only a few times in as many years, according to Muhammad. The last time Muhammad said he saw Mack was on Dec. 26, 1997, when he visited him in prison at the request of Mack’s family.

That visit prompted police interest in Muhammad. But Muhammad says he simply went to see Mack to discuss family matters.

“I am the godfather of David’s two children. I visited his wife and kids on Christmas Day and they asked me to go see him in jail, so I did,” said Muhammad. “It’s as simple as that.”

Several months before Muhammad visited Mack in prison, a jailhouse informant had told detectives that the rapper’s killer went by a “Middle East” sounding name, possibly “Amir” or “Ashmir” and that his true name might be Abraham or Kenny or Keeky.

The informant also said the killer was a former member of the Southside Crips gang and could have belonged to a security force connected to the Nation of Islam, a Muslim group. Muhammad says that while he does belong to the Nation of Islam, he never has been a member of any security force connected to it. Police sources say he has no gang ties.

Investigators’ suspicion grew in January 1998 when detectives obtained a driver’s license photo of Muhammad and thought it resembled one of the two composite sketches of the rapper’s killer drawn from witness accounts. The 24-year-old rap sensation, whose real name was Christopher Wallace, was gunned down outside the Petersen Automotive Museum in Los Angeles after a music industry party on March 9, 1997.

Police sources in December said that they believed the attack was a professional assassination and that detectives had been trying to build a case against Mack, Knight and Muhammad for two years. Investigators were focusing on Mack because he owned a vehicle similar to the getaway car used by the assassin and was identified by one witnesses as having attended the party where Wallace was murdered. Sources, including one police officer, told investigators that Mack had ties to Death Row Records. Police also identified Knight as a suspect in the killing and served search warrants on sites linked to Death Row in April 1999. The search turned up no evidence of Knight’s involvement, and police were forced to return all items under court order, according to Knight’s attorney.

Knight and Mackthrough his lawyersay they have never even met and deny any connection with Wallace’s murder.

Muhammad says he did not attend the party the night Wallace was shot, but doesn’t recall what he was doing. He recalls hearing about the rapper’s slaying on the news the next day.

“Let me ask you this, do you remember exactly what you were doing that night three years ago?” he asked. “Of course not. Neither do I.”

Muhammad remains outraged.

“I can’t find the words to express the injustice I feel was done to me,” he said.

“I’m a businessmannot a gang memberand I lead a private life,” he added.

>>20652469

>Someone didn't get the memo.

>5 months later

>>20652472

Top Kek

Big Mike has entered the chat

BIGGIE BOMBSHELLPrime suspect in murder of Notorious B.I.G may NOT have killed him, according to leaked interview from jail snitch

Despite constant speculation and rumour, the shooter has never been found and the crime remains unsolved some 24 years on - with the LAPD keeping the case open.

Amir Muhammad, also known as Harry Billups, a Nation of Islam convert, has been identified by many as the prime suspect in the murder of Biggie.

However, leaked recordings expose Muhammad's links to the case are based on seemingly weak testimony from jailhouse informant Michael "Psycho Mike" Robinson.

LAPD detective Russell Poole implicated Muhammad following the interview.

And this element of the case is featured in the plot of upcoming Johnny Depp movie City of Lies.

Poole, who died in 2015, claimed Robinson identified Muhammad, who was linked to corrupt LAPD officer David Mack, who was in turn claimed to have been on the payroll of rival record boss Suge Knight.

Leaked audio recordings of Robinson's interview however show him stumbling through the grilling, getting key details about the shooting wrong, and not even naming fully Muhammad.

Biggie expert and respected filmmaker Mike Dorsey told The Sun Online that Poole's theory entirely rests on Robinson's testimony, and if this crumbles, his case crumbles.

Mr Dorsey said: "All Poole took from the nearly hour-long interview with Robinson was a single first name – one of five that Robinson offered up as guesses.

"Poole then attached that to a random person with that same first name because they visited a cop in prison who'd robbed a bank, who they'd been friends with in college.

"To me, leaving out everything else Robinson said that didn't match the guy Poole wanted to go after is lying by omission.

"And then Poole spent the rest of his life trying to make that guy and his friend the killers."

Audio tapes show Robinson, a self-confessed schizophrenic convicted murderer, failing to properly identify Muhammad and see him being seemingly helped along in the interview.

https://www.the-sun.com/news/3077616/prime-suspect-murder-biggie-leaked-interview/