The FBI "extensively investigated" whether late rap
music stars Tupac Shakur and Eric "Eazy-E" Wright were
the victims of death threats and extortion plots
hatched by individuals aligned with the militant
Jewish Defense League, The Smoking Gun has learned.
Following a 2-1/2 year probe, bureau officials closed
the investigation in May 1999, noting that agents were
unable to corroborate information provided by two
confidential FBI sources.
Details of the federal investigation, which began
weeks after Shakur was murdered in September 1996, are
contained in records provided by the bureau pursuant
to a Freedom of Information request filed by TSG.
Those records, many of which were heavily redacted
prior to their release, indicate that the FBI probe
was classified a "Domestic Terrorism" case because of
the JDL's alleged involvement. One FBI memo notes that
the Jewish group "has been the subject of numerous
Bureau investigations involving bombings and
homicides," including the unsolved 1985 killing of
Arab-American activist Alex Odeh.
According to FBI records, agents in Los Angeles opened
a preliminary criminal inquiry on October 17, 1996
after "two independent sources" provided information
that JDL figures were "extorting money from various
rap music stars via death threats." After six months
of this
initial inquiry, agents opened a full-blown "field
investigation" on April 15, 1997 because, one memo
states, there was a "reasonable indication" that
"extortionate/criminal activity" was occuring.
Shakur and Wright, a founding member of the group
N.W.A. who died in March 1995 from AIDS complications,
were listed as victims of this reported shakedown. The
redacted documents provide no specific details of the
supposed threats, nor do they include allegations that
the probe's targets were involved in any way with
Shakur's murder.
The bureau records reveal that agents focused on
whether the "extortionate activities" of the inquiry's
subjects--whose names were redacted from the released
documents--were "in furtherance of the social and/or
political goals of the Jewish Defense League." During
the course of the 31-month probe, records show, FBI
agents in more than a dozen field offices aided the
Los Angeles-based investigation. In addition, IRS
agents, LAPD officers, and Los Angeles Sheriff's
Department representatives also worked on the case.
On May 18, 1999, the FBI's "Act of Terrorism" (AOT)
investigation was formally closed. In a memo to the
National Security division at FBI headquarters in
Washington, a Los Angeles agent reported that the
matter had been "extensively investigated," but
probers were unble to corroborate the "source
information" which triggered their criminal inquiry.
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