By Nolan Strong
A former bodyguard for Tupac made a stunning revelation during a documentary screening for the new film Tupac: Assassination - Conspiracy or Revenge?
During a Q&A that followed the screening of the documentary in Los Angeles, former Death Row bodyguard Kevin Hackie made the startling claim that he was an undercover FBI agent - and not an informant - as previously reported, during his time of employment as Tupac Shakur's bodyguard and security detail for Death Row Records from 1992-1996.
Hackie admitted the details during a panel discussion last night (October 16) with filmmakers R.J. Bond and Frank "Big Frank" Alexander, Tupac's former bodyguard and author of the critically acclaimed books Got Your Back: Life as Tupac's Bodyguard in the Hardcore World of Gangsta Rap (1999) and the DVD documentary Before I Wake (2001).
Hackie made the revelation in response to an alleged Los Angeles Police Department officer, who was in the crowd and defended the department's investigation into the murder of Shakur, who was shot multiple times on the Las Vegas strip, after a Mike Tyson fight.
Shakur died seven days later from his wounds on September 13, 1996.
While Shakur was murdered in Nevada, conspiracy theorists have all agreed on one thing - that the murder was not random and that the plot originated in Los Angeles, California.
Tupac Assassination is executive produced by Frank Alexander, one of Shakur's most trusted confidants.
Alexander was supposed to ride in the car and Knight and Shakur the evening the rapper was gunned down, but Shakur allegedly asked him to drive another car owned by Quincy Jones' daughter, Kidada.
The DVD details new angles surrounding a murder conspiracy plot to murder Shakur.
Tupac Assassination examines law enforcement's alleged failure to fully investigate the murder of Shakur.
The DVD also attempts to bring new facts about the superstar rapper's murder to the surface.
According to Hackie, an arrest will be made in the murder of Tupac Shakur, as well as the murder of Christopher "Notorious B.I.G." Wallace, who was gunned down six months later in Los Angeles on March 9, 1997.
Hackie took the stand during a June 2005 federal trial and claimed that the head of Death Row Records threatened to kill B.I.G., allegedly in retaliation for the murder of Tupac Shakur.
Until now, Hackie was reported to be an informant for the FBI.
During a June 2005 wrongful death trial over the murder of the Notorious B.I.G., U.S. District Judge Florence-Marie Cooper had to issue an arrest warrant in an attempt to illicit testimony from Hackie, who runs a private security firm and claimed he feared gang retribution if he testified.
In 2004, Hackie stated in a filed declaration that he had "personal knowledge" about B.I.G.'s murder and that people within Death Row offered $25,000 dollars to a law enforcement officer to carry out the slaying.
Hackie claimed that former officer David Mack and a number of LAPD officers worked as "covert agents" for Death Row Records and that Shakur was murdered because Marion "Suge" Knight allegedly owed Shakur millions in unpaid royalties.
Hackie then denied a number of statements attributed to him by defense lawyers and criticized the lawsuits merits, claiming it was a money grab by the family of The Notorious B.I.G.
"My statements were taken out of context," Hackie said. "Some things in there I never even said. They added them in."
Tupac Assassination - Conspiracy or Revenge? produced by Bond-Age Films and Step-N-Up Enterprises. The DVD, which is distributed through Eyecon/Fontana Distribution, hits stores on October 23.