Tekashi 6ix9ine: Professor explains the RICO charges against Brooklyn rapper

NEW YORK – Rapper Tekashi 6ix9ine was deemed a likely danger to the community and denied bail Monday after a prosecutor said there was evidence that he directed or participated in multiple acts of violence as part of a deadly gang.

U.S. Magistrate Judge Henry B. Pitman concluded an hour-long hearing by citing “troubling” corroborating evidence offered by a prosecutor to show that 6ix9ine directed or participated in multiple acts of violence over the last eight months.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael Longyear said a backpack stolen during a gunpoint robbery in April was found during a raid at the rapper’s Brooklyn residence, along with an automatic pistol.

“The defendant is quite violent,” the prosecutor said of the 22-year-old rapper, whose debut album, “Day69,” was among the most downloaded records on iTunes.

Longyear said 6ix9ine was captured on surveillance video as he sat in a car and filmed the scene in Times Square when his co-defendants carried out a violent robbery against a rival gang member.

The prosecutor said he was also part of a video boasting about shots recently fired by a co-defendant in Brooklyn’s Barclays Center.

Longyear also said the rapper was a threat to flee because of his worldwide connections, hundreds of thousands of dollars in cash and the knowledge that a conviction would bring a mandatory minimum sentence of 32 years in prison and as much as life.

Pitman ordered 6ix9ine held until a Tuesday bail hearing, saying he was concerned about the danger to the community, particularly because the rapper could direct others to carry out acts of violence.

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