Tekashi 6ix9inewas back in Manhattan federal court today for hissecond day of testimonyat the trial of Anthony “Harv” Ellison and Aljermiah “Nuke” Mack, two alleged members of the Nine Trey Bloods who are being charged with racketeering and firearms crimes.
Ellison faces two additional violent crime charges and one additional firearm charge due to his connection to the alleged kidnapping and assault of 6ix9ine on July 22, 2018. The rapper described that kidnapping in detail during today’s court session, and prosecutors showed the jury dashcam footage from the vehicle from which he was abducted. (Previously, on the first day of the trial, a defense attorney for Ellison tried to argue that 6ix9ine had faked the kidnapping, calling it “a Jussie Smollett, if you will.”)
Through the course of the day, 6ix9ine detailed his beef with rappers such asCasanova,Trippie Redd, andChief Keeftoday in Manhattan federal court. He also spoke about past altercations with the Houston-based Rap-A-Lot Records. His testimony took up the entire day and has yet to reach a conclusion. More testimony, as well as cross-examination and redirect examination, are set to take place tomorrow. Here’s what was discussed today.
Trippie Redd, Casanova, Chief Keef, and Rap-A-Lot
During his testimony, 6ix9ine claimed responsibility fora November 2017 attackagainst Trippie Redd. He told the court that he and other alleged members of the Nine Trey Bloods attacked Trippie Redd because Trippie “was with another set of Bloods.” 6ix9ine described how he and the alleged Nine Trey members followed Trippie to his hotel following a Brooklyn music video shoot and claimed that Ellison punched Trippie Redd in the mouth.
In April 2018, 6ix9ine and his crew were involved in analtercation with Casanovaat Barclays Center. According to today’s testimony, 6ix9ine and “six or seven” members of his entourage were in the lower level tunnels at the Brooklyn arena when they were suddenly confronted by “over 25 ”Casanova affiliates who immediately began shoving them. 6ix9ine testified that his former manager Kifano “Shotti” Jordan then instructed another member of their crew to fire a shot to scatter the crowd.
6ix9ine also confirmed in court today that he ordered a 2018 shooting in Times Square that targeted Chief Keef. (In June, the man who he ordered to carry out the shooting — Kintea McKenzie aka Kooda B –pleaded guilty to assaultwith a deadly weapon in aid of racketeering.) 6ix9ine stated that he told Kooda he would pay $ 20, 000 for the shooting, but gave him only $ 10, 000 after an intervention by Shotti. (Shotti wassentenced to 15 years in prisonearlier this month.)
Finally, 6ix9ine spoke at length about the antagonistic relationship he held with affiliates of Rap-A-Lot Records, the seminal Houston rap label founded by J. Prince in the late 1980 s. First, he described how he was barred from performing at World Star Hip Hop’s SXSW showcase in March 2018 after individuals representing Rap-A-Lot barricaded the stage, insulted that 6ix9ine did not “check in” with them upon arriving in their state. Then, 6ix9ine detailed the armed robbery of Scumlord Dizzy and Rap-A-Lot affiliate Junya Boy, an incident that took place in April 2018 in retaliation for the SXSW altercation. “They tried to embarrass us, so now we’re gonna rob them,” he said, describing his thought process at the time.
Outlining the alleged kidnapping and assault
6ix9ine’s role in the Ellison and Mack case is closely tied to what prosecutors have painted as a splintering relationship between Ellison and Shotti, both members of the same “lineup” of Nine Trey Bloods. After 6ix9ine was made an “official” member of the gang in late 2017, he said that his social clout and financial earning potential made him an asset to the gang, who provided him with protection in turn.
Shotti became 6ix9ine’s manager after the rapper fired his former manager Christian Ehigiator in March 2018, 6ix9ine stated. At one point in his testimony, 6ix9ine discussed how Ellison acted menacingly toward his friends at SXSW and subsequently mocked both 6ix9ine and Shotti for failing to fight back against Rap-A-Lot after label associates prevented 6ix9ine from performing. In a video 6ix9ine says he received shortly after SXSW, and played in court today, Ellison can be seen on an airplane, speaking to the camera. “I made up my mind today,” he says in the clip. “I want smoke. It’s lit. ”
In July 2018,reports emergedthat 6ix9ine had been kidnapped, assaulted, and robbed in Brooklyn. During court testimony today, the rapper stated that in the early hours of July 22, Ellison and an associate named Sha tailed 6ix9ine, crashed into his car, and then proceeded to force him into their vehicle at gunpoint. Dashcam footage from the 6ix9ine’s vehicle was played in court.
After his car was initially struck, the video shows 6ix9ine’s driver stopping the vehicle by the curb. He can be seen in the video exiting the car after telling 6ix9ine to stay put. According to 6ix9ine, the driver thought that the other vehicle was nothing more than a “drunk driver.” Moments later, the passenger door is wrenched open, and a man that 6ix9ine identified as Sha began talking to him, telling him to get out of the car. 6ix9ine claimed he was being held at gunpoint.
“Don’t shoot, don’t shoot,” 6ix9ine can be heard saying in the footage. While his assailants’ faces are never clearly visible, at one point the rapper says, “Everybody is saying, extortion this, extortion that… Harv, please, Harv, you know I’ll give you everything, bro.”
After forcing him into their car at gunpoint, 6ix9ine stated that Sha held him down by his hair and beat him while Ellison looked on and told him, “Say you not Billy,” meaning, “Say you’re not a Nine Trey Blood. ”In his testimony, 6ix9ine said that he renounced the gang three times, and that Ellison was holding his phone with the flash on, possibly recording the assault. The rapper testified that Ellison and Sha then drove him to his home, stole his jewelry, drove away, and then subsequently let him out of the car.
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