I was killed repeatedly and told that by respawning in the spawn district and then trying to leave that area that I was breaking NLR.
You clearly haven't read the NLR rule right then bruh...
Rule 2.2 wrote:
If you died in the spawn district you should leave the district promptly without any role-play interaction.
Our definition of NLR states you cannot return at all to the
district you died in at all for the 3 minute duration, so by going back to retreive your car you were in fact breaking NLR.
2.3 New Life Rule - Do not return or interact with the district that you died in within three minutes of dying, unless otherwise specified by a different rule. If you died in the spawn district you should leave the district promptly without any role-play interaction.