Nipsey Hussle mourners pay homage in peace to revered rapper at makeshift memorial

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Kiara Career, left, and Tadow McReynolds, from Minneapolis, take a selfie at the Nipsey Hussle memorial outside his Marathon Clothing store in Los Angeles.

(Marcus Yam / Los Angeles Times)

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The growing memorial for Nipsey Hussle outside his Marathon Clothing store in Los Angeles.

(Marcus Yam / Los Angeles Times)

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Herman Douglas, a.k.a. Cowboy, a business partner of Nipsey Hussle, stands behind police tape marking the crime scene as he pays his respect at a makeshift memorial for Hussle on April 2.

(Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times)

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LAPD officer Jonathan Moreno, left, receives a bouquet from Rochelle Trent, 64, to be placed at a makeshift memorial for Nipsey Hussle on April 2.

(Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times)

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Nene Vauters, 28, stands behind police crime-scene tape to pay her respects at a makeshift memorial for Nipsey Hussle on April 2.

(Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times)

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L.A. police push back a crowd along Crenshaw Boulevard after a stamped erupted, injuring several people, during a vigil Monday for slain rapper Nipsey Hussle.

(Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times)

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Law enforcement officials begin to form lines down Slauson Avenue after a stampede at the memorial for rapper Nipsey Hussle.

(Genaro Molina/ Los Angeles Times)

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L.A. push the crowd down Slauson Avenue after a reported stabbing incident at the memorial for rapper Nipsey Hussle.

(Genaro Molina/ Los Angeles Times)

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Fans of rapper Nipsey Hussle pay tribue to the slain star in the parking lot of his Marathon Clothing store in South Los Angeles on Monday.

(Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times)

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An image of Nipsey Hussle rests in a sea of candles as fans of the rapper pay their respects near the Marathon Clothing store in South Los Angeles on Monday.

(Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times)

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Fans of rapper Nipsey Hussle pay their respects at a makeshift memorial in the parking lot of the Marathon Clothing store in South Los Angeles on Monday.

(Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times)

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Jesse Junco, 28, from San Bernardino lights candles Monday morning at one of a few growing memorials in front of the Marathon Clothing store.

(Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)

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LaShanna Ayers, right, whose grandson is a godson to Nipsey Hussle, is comforted in the parking lot where rapper Nipsey Hussle was killed.

(Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)

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Marquesa Lawson, 34, right, mourns the shooting death of rapper Nipsey Hussle in the Hyde Park neighborhood of Los Angeles.

(Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times)

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A crowd of people gathers at the scene where rapper Nipsey Hussle was killed Sunday.

(Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times)

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Police investigate the scene where rapper Nipsey Hussle was killed in a shooting outside his store that left two others wounded.

(Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times)

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Hugo Rojas, 17, holds a candle in memory of rapper Nipsey Hussle, who was shot multiple times Sunday in South L.A.

(Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times)

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Utopia Kates, 27, in green jacket, comforts a friend over the shooting death of rapper Nipsey Hussle outside his clothing store in South Los Angeles.

(Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times)

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Takiya Taylor, 25, mourns the death of rapper Nipsey Hussle, who was killed in a shooting that wounded two other people outside Hussle’s clothing store in South Los Angeles.

(Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times )

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“I’m telling you, that was my friend. My friend’s dead. He was my childhood friend,” said Marquesha Lawson, 34, at the scene of rapper Nipsey Hussle’s killing in South L.A. on Sunday.

(Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times )

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Police cordoned off the scene where rapper Nipsey Hussle was killed in a shooting outside his Marathon Clothing store.

(Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times)

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A crowd of people looks over the scene near Slauson Avenue and Crenshaw Boulevard where rapper Nipsey Hussle was killed.

(Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times)

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People mourn the shooting death of rapper Nipsey Hussle in the Hyde Park neighborhood where Hussle was known as a community leader.

(Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times)

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Rapper Nipsey Hussle performs in February 2018 at the Hollywood Palladium.

(Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times)

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Nipsey Hussle performs during the Rolling Loud festival at Exposition Park on Dec. 14, 2018.

(Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times)

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Nipsey Hussle performs at the Hollywood Palladium. He was nominated for a Grammy for his album “Victory Lap.”

(Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times)

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Nipsey Hussle, shown at the Hollywood Palladium, was known as much for his work in the community as for his music.

(Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times)

By Ruben Vives

, Jaclyn Cosgrove and Hannah Fry

April 3, 2019 8:21 AM PT

On the same day authorities arrested a man suspected of killing Nipsey Hussle, hundreds of mourners lined up outside the Grammy-nominated rapper’s clothing store Tuesday to honor the artist whom many saw as a champion of South L.A.

The peaceful gathering was a stark contrast to a vigil for the rapper the night before that turned chaotic when false reports of shooting and violence scared attendees, causing a flood of people to rush from the Slauson Avenue strip mall where Hussle had been gunned down Sunday.

For the roughly 600 people who visited the makeshift memorial outside of Hussle’s Marathon Clothing store on Tuesday, the day was an opportunity to pay homage to the 33-year-old entrepreneur and community organizer who fought for the black and Latino people of his Hyde Park neighborhood.

Trevor Kemp, who lives in the area, watched as people gathered by a black armored truck covered with bouquets.

“Every Christmas [Hussle] would fill up that truck and drop off gifts,” Kemp said. “They’d fill it up with sneakers and also drive around handing them out.”

Kemp said he once had a conversation with Hussle and remembered hearing him say he wanted to invest in the local parks.

“He could have made money and left, but he intended to stay,” Kemp said. “He wanted to bring change.”

Tuesday also marked the end of a two-day manhunt for Eric Holder, 29, who authorities allege got into a verbal altercation with Hussle on Sunday afternoon outside of the rapper’s clothing store before returning with a handgun and opening fire. Holder was taken into custody in Bellflower and is being held without bail, according to jail records.

Graphic video from a surveillance camera shows a gunman walking up to Hussle and two other men in front of the shop. The gunman opens fire and Hussle falls to the ground as the other men run from the gunfire.

Diana White, 60, who lives a few blocks from where the shooting occurred, waited in line in an alley with dozens of other mourners for her turn to see the teddy bears, artwork, cards and candles that had been lined in a circle and along the walls of the store for Hussle.

“It was beautiful,” she said.

White had never met the hip-hop star, but she said she couldn’t stop thinking about him after watching interviews of him on television. His death brought her to tears.

“His mannerisms reminded me of my son,” she said. “Maybe that was it. I didn’t know him, I don’t know why I felt like this, but maybe that was it, he had the same mannerisms like my son, the way he spoke.”

After the stampede outside the clothing store on Monday sent 19 people to hospitals, the Los Angeles Police Department implemented new rules for viewing the memorial. LAPD Chief Michel Moore said at a news conference Tuesday that a man with a gun might have caused the panic to begin when he took out the weapon.

Per the new rules, a maximum of 30 mourners at a time were allowed to visit the memorial for seven minutes. After that, they were instructed to exit left. The vigil ended at 10 p.m., and officers closed access to nearby streets.

Before the commotion Monday, hundreds were gathered peacefully in the area, with fans and friends sharing memories of Hussle via a megaphone.

White said at Tuesday’s vigil that she didn’t mind the heavy police presence, noting she felt safe, and that the process felt well organized.

Anminah Parker, 20, had mixed feelings about how the vigil was set up. She said she didn’t like that she only had a few minutes to pay her respects.

“I felt rushed,” she said.

She said she was happy to see the Nation of Islam helping to keep the peace, and although she felt the police came off aggressively Monday, they were welcoming Tuesday night.

“They’re taking a better approach tonight,” she said. “And that means something.”