FEAR FACTOR
Rikers gangs threatened rapper Tekashi 6ix9ine
Gang threats were making Tekashi 6ix9ine sick.
On his second day in holding, Brooklyn-born bad boy rapper Tekashi 6ix9ine was moved to a secure facility on Rikers Island that’s set aside for inmates with infectious diseases — for his own safety, sources said Friday.
The heavily inked performer was parked in Rikers Island’s West Facility, which houses potentially contagious inmates, according to the city’s Department of Corrections website.
But a source with knowledge of the case said Tekashi, 22, was put there not because he’s ailing, but because of his fame. The facility is sometimes used for high-profile inmates who fear for their safety, the source said.
During his arraignment Thursday in Mahattan Supreme Court, Tekashi — who was grabbed at JFK Airport on an arrest warrant for a misdemeanor assault in Texas — asked to be released on bail. He was nabbed Wednesday as he returned to the U.S. from a European tour.
A courthouse source later said Tekashi reported Trinitarios gang members threatened him in central booking while he was waiting for his hearing to begin.
A second source confirmed that Trinitarios members were calling the rapper a “b---h” and threatened to cut him. Tekashi cowered in fear during the verbal onslaught, the source said.
Manhattan Judge Ann Scherzer initially ordered Tekashi held without bail until Texas authorities could pick him up next week. But during a late hearing on Friday, Scherzer judge allowed the rapper to go free on $150,000 bail.
The rapper wasted no time getting Empire Bail Bonds to post his bond, backed by manager William Cornish.
Scherzer said she was willing to release him after Texas prosecutors said they were fine with Tekashi surrendering on his own.
“Once released he will as early as possible head to Texas to answer the warrant,” his attorney, Ian Niles, said Friday.
On Thursday, the Bushwick-born rapper, whose real name is Daniel Hernandez, tried to lawyer his way out of jail — a major misfire. Scherzer, who heard the “Gummo” artist’s amateur bid for sympathy, just wasn’t having it.
During the hearing, Tekashi repeatedly interrupted court proceedings over whether he would sign an extradition waiver and be taken back to Texas. He tried to convince the judge to let him fly to the Lone Star State on his own.
“In the short time that I’ve been incarcerated, I’ve learned my lesson to be more responsible,” Tekashi argued. He added that “back home” he has “a nonworking mother and a 2-year-old daughter that depend on me and only me.”
He also threw out excuses about leaving, saying he knew it was “not very responsible” to leave “knowing that it was that serious of a warrant for a misdemeanor.” And he begged. “I’m not asking you to have sympathy for me. I’m not asking you for anything else at all,” he whined.
“All I ask is to please post bail for this misdemeanor case in which I promise you and the court to take the first flight to Houston, Texas, in which I will have a legal team there ready to speed up the process.”
Scherzer remanded Tekashi a day before because he went to Europe for a concert tour knowing he had the warrant, and she also cited an open case for allegedly punching a 16-year-old.