Pop Smoke was tapped to be a federal informant, but he refused.
Before his death earlier this year in February, Pop Smoke was being badgered by the NYPD to snitch on crips, but he never took the bait. According to a new report by the New York Post, the police unit tried to turn the rapper into a whistleblower against Brooklyn gangs, and they were not subtle.
Pop Smoke was arrested and charged for reportedly transporting a stolen Rolls Royce Wraith for Los Angeles to New York in December. While he was in custody, Pop underwent an interrogation that found the NYPD trying to convert him into an informer. He was asked by the feds to leak information on gangs and also to share any details he knows about a shooting incident that took place in Brooklyn in June 2019. Law enforcement claimed they had footage of the rapper driving near the scene of the crime. After refusing to cooperate, Pop Smoke was slapped with a state charge of criminal possession of stolen property and five other counts.
According to his lawyer, Pop Smoke would have never agreed to snitch under any circumstance. “Any conversation with Pop about cooperation was a very short one. It’s something he would never entertain doing,” said attorney Peter Frankel. The same NYPD gang unit detective was present when the FBI picked up Pop Smoke again at JFK after he returned from Paris Fashion Week in January. The rapper was reportedly grilled about a shooting that took place outside a nightclub in Queens on January 4, but he again refused. He was released on a $250,000 bond after getting hit with a federal charge of interstate transportation of a stolen motor vehicle.
“They hoped the force of the federal indictment would persuade him to cooperate — meet and speak with them,” Frankel said about the NYPD putting pressure on Pop Smoke.
Pop Smoke also agreed to perform drug tests and submit them to U.S. pre-trial services. The following month the administrative office claimed several of the performers at the “BK Drip Concert” were known gang members and disallowed Pop Smoke to perform at the show. He obliged and canceled his appearance, but just days later, he was murdered in his Hollywood Hills home.
Some fans have found it suspicious that the NYPD was coincidentally all over Pop Smoke leading up to his untimely death. Four male conspirators have, however, been arrested in connection with “The Woo” rapper’s death, and criminal charges have been brought against them. The narrative still remains that the murder took place “during the commission of a robbery and a burglary,” but fans have their own conspiracies. Do you think Pop Smoke’s death was more than a home invasion gone wrong?
