Film Depicting the LAPD's Complicity in the Murder of Notorious BIG Pulled from Theater Release - No New Date Set
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"LAPD = Lawlessness Against People Displayed." - Dr. Blynd. From [HERE] The new film City of Lies focuses on the investigation into the murder of the Notorious B.I.G. in 1997. It stars Johnny Depp as detective Russell Poole and Forrest Whitaker as reporter Jack Jackson. The film was initially slated for a theater release on September 7. Now, the film has been pulled from release in theaters, The Hollywood Reporter notes. No new date has been set for the film’s release. Find the film’s trailer below.
The film is adapted from the 2003 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.
Russell Wayne Poole (November 29, 1956 – August 19, 2015) was a Los Angeles Police Department detective most noted for investigating the murder of the rapper known as The Notorious B.I.G..
On March 9, 1997, at around 12:30 a.m., Biggie Smalls, Bad Boy Records CEO Sean Combs, and their entourage left the 11th Annual Soul Train Music Awards after-party, held at the Petersen Automotive Museum, in two GMC Suburbans to return to his hotel after an announcement was made that the party would finish earlier than planned. Biggie traveled in the front passenger seat of the second Suburban alongside his associates, Damion "D-Rock" Butler, Junior M.A.F.I.A. member Lil' Cease and driver, Gregory "G-Money" Young. Combs traveled in the first vehicle with three bodyguards. The two trucks were trailed by a Chevrolet Blazer carrying Bad Boy's director of security.
By 12:45 a.m., the streets were crowded with cars full of people leaving the event. Biggie's truck stopped at a red light 50 yards (46 m) from the museum. While waiting for the light to change, a white Toyota Land Cruiser made a U-turn and cut in-between Biggie's vehicle and the Chevrolet Blazer behind. Simultaneously, a black Chevrolet Impala pulled up alongside Biggie's SUV. The driver of the Impala (an African-American male neatly dressed in a blue suit and bow tie) rolled down his window, drew a 9mm blue-steel pistol and fired several rounds into the GMC Suburban; four bullets hit Biggie in the chest. Biggie was rushed to Cedars-Sinai Medical Center by Combs and the rest of Biggie's entourage, but was pronounced dead by doctors at 1:15 a.m.
After months of investigating, Poole accused LAPD Officer David Mack, along with Mack's friend, Amir Muhammad, of being complicit in the murder. Poole claimed he had enough evidence to prove that Mack had ties to the CEO of Death Row Records, Marion "Suge" Knight[citation needed] to suspect Mack and possibly other officers in the murder.[citation needed He had sources that he grew up in the same neighborhood as Knight (Compton), was in the same gang as Knight (the Bloods), was a frequent visitor at Knight's private parties, and wore the same blood red clothes as Knight and the Bloods gang. Much of Poole's investigation was used as the basis for Randall Sullivan's 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.
Poole sent his findings to the then-chief of the Los Angeles Police Department, Bernard C. Parks, who ordered Poole to cease all investigations of Officer David Mack. Poole, in protest of Parks' and the LAPD's handling of the case, retired from the department in late 1999[5] after a long and rewarding career. Distraught from being forced into early retirement and the end of the investigation, Poole later stated that "I almost took my life, but it was my kids that actually saved me."[6] Furthermore, he filed a lawsuit against the LAPD for violating his First Amendment rights by preventing him from going to the public with his information.[7] Poole, as a private investigator, continued independently investigating the murder on his own. He was included in a 2001 interview with VH1 in the documentary film Biggie & Tupac released in 2001 by Nick Broomfield. [MORE]
While working on a future tell-all book, Chaos Merchants, Poole mysteriously died of an apparent heart attack on August 19, 2015, while discussing the Tupac and Biggie cases at the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department.[10]
