LA prepares to mourn in mass for slain rapper Nipsey Hussle

LOS ANGELES (AP) — The city of Los Angeles is no stranger to epic street gatherings for everything from sports victory parades to televised car chases.

On Thursday it will host a much more somber — although perhaps equally large — affair when it lays to rest one of its native sons, slain rapper Nipsey Hussle.

Following a “Celebration of Life” at the same 21,000-seat arena where pop superstar Michael Jackson was memorialized, Hussle’s body will be taken on a 25-mile funeral procession through Los Angeles.

Authorities are urging people who didn’t score free tickets to the memorial to stay away and instead gather along the route.

The procession will wind through South LA, near the flashpoint of the city’s 1992 riots and past Hussle’s Marathon Clothing store, where he was killed last month.