September 30, 2023
Gardiner River, Gardiner MT, at the confluence with the Yellowstone River. Fall 2023.
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1996: Where were you when you heard legendary rapper-hip hop artist and actor Tupac Shakur is dead?
2023: Where were you when a grand jury murder indictment is finally handed down in Tupac Shakur’s murder case?
This weekend will be remembered as the beginning of a perplexing, embattled, and emotional time period. News of the arrest of Duane (“Keffe D”) Davis for Tupac Shakur’s murder is relieving and infuriating. Relieving because Tupac’s family and his supportive public have made many sacrifices towards solving the unsolved murder case. Infuriating because Tupac’s family and his supportive public have made many sacrifices towards solving the unsolved murder case. The grand jury charges are murder with a deadly weapon with a gang enhancement–after 27 years. “Bittersweet” is how Tupac’s brother, Mopreme Shakur, describes the charges in Rolling Stone.
This is a long time coming for those who perceive Tupac as an assassinated revolutionary musician-leader. This is a long time coming for many who oppose the US empire’s war on the global Black community, the people, and historic survival systems.
After news of Tupac’s assassination in Las Vegas, many people assumed it was a politically targeted hit and not simply gang or music industry related. (A federal operation using agents as gang members is one theory.) Tupac’s family’s political legacy includes Black Panther Party and Black Liberation Army members. His mother (Afeni Shakur) and his long-term political prisoner stepfather (Mutulu Shakur) are now deceased. Tupac was born at the beginning of the tumultuous 70’s only to retain and communicate the radical politics his Panther “Dear Mama” always endorsed until the end. In his short 25 years, he did just that, paying the highest price.
His opinions established him early in his life as a cultural icon representing anti-racism, anti-policing resistance, social justice and the arts, for a global fanbase that grows over time. Tupac represented a form of regal political culture that made many of his fans and enemies envious. He still does. Qualities to envy include: his familiarity with militant radicalism; his gangster culture activities; his musical/ artistic and creative flexibility; and his great body and handsome looks.
Tupac’s assassination forced many people to face US racism and confront the government’s legacy of state terrorism– including political repression of free speech, thought and sound. Solving Tupac’s murder isn’t only about finding a guilty party and punishing him decades after the controversy has diminished. Solving the murder may reveal a different source of conflict beyond the simple “east coast-west coast gang warfare” or “rap battle” explanations. Gangs are infiltrated by feds and police informants, after all. So is the music industry. Hell, for all we know, this could be innerware-entertainment industry scenery with an alive musician sipping cocktails somewhere on the isle of Malta!
Case facts below are taken directly from an LA Times article on September 30, 2023.
The fact is now established by Vegas authorities that Davis stalked Tupac in Vegas and then supplied the Glock that fired shots from a white Cadillac killing Tupac and wounding now incarcerated Suge Knight. Davis’ gripe with Tupac and Death Row Records is unclear. Rumors center around Davis’ now deceased rapper nephew, Orlando Anderson, who was accused of stealing a necklace from Death Row Records– starting problems. Anderson was in the back of the murder mobile with now deceased DeAndre Smith while now deceased Terrence Brown drove. Davis sat in the front passenger seat. Supposedly Davis was angry someone linked to Tupac (or Tupac himself) criticized Anderson’s music. The “escalating beef” between “rival factions” we are likely to hear about in the weeks and months ahead might give some context to Tupac’s murder. But not much.
What’s not explained is why has it taken this long for a (grand jury) indictment?
Here Emergency Ethics offers an informed hypothesis: Tupac’s murder was a Cointelpro attack on a talented young Black leader. When we see a phenomenon like Davis’ 2019 book, Compton Street Legend, admit direct involvement, without an arrest forthcoming, we must ask why now? Davis claims he’s a South Side Compton Crip leader who “ordered the death” of Shakur. Did it really take the world’s largest surveillance state this long to find Davis?
There are really no good answers to the question “what took so long?” except shifting deep state/ federal/ policing dynamics allowing a resident, agent or cop to publicly admit a heinous and inhumane past act. (Writing a book is such a CIA/ FBI project!) Maybe Davis is a longtime Crip-spy doing the government’s bidding. Maybe he worked as a private hired gun for nefarious forces: police? Why are the other Cadillac passengers dead except Davis?
Don’t be fooled and distracted by rumors and gossip. (Good luck!) Demand immediate answers from Clark County, Nevada authorities in the Sheriffs’ Department and District Attorney’s office about Duane (“Keffe D”) Davis’ true identity— which will explain why this took so long. (Afeni Shakur was married to a Davis, Gust Davis, from 2004- before her death in 2016. Any relation or mere coincidence?)
Is Duane (“Keffe D”) Davis a CIA/FBI/Homeland Security agent, a mercenary, or a private hire for murder? His identity as a Crip leader only tells part of the story. The murder of this musical revolutionary is a story that will never be forgotten. Decades later a tech-savvy youth know Tupac’s music as well as his fans did back in the 90’s.
They want justice for Tupac’s murder, too.
A prescient Tupac Shakur donning the epic hoodie style decades before Trayvon Martin’s murder.
© Michelle Renée Matisons, Ph.D. (is Emergency Ethics)
Emergency Ethics 