Sheff G and Sleepy Hallow, the two rappers Donald Trump welcomed on stage at his massive Bronx rally on Thursday, are charged as accessories in a 2023 murder case.
Trump campaigned Thursday before thousands of fans in one of the most Democratic and non-white areas of the United States in an attempt to do what his critics believe is unthinkable: win New York in 2024.
At the rally, he brought the rapper couple on stage. Trump admired the dazzling diamond grills on his teeth, and the jewelry-loving Republican joked that he wanted to get one for himself.
Sheff G, whose real name is Michael Williams, is a 25-year-old rapper whose songs and videos have millions of views on YouTube and streams on Spotify.
He is also a central figure in the gang case revealed by Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez more than a year ago, while he was serving another sentence for attempted weapons possession.
Sheff G and Sleepy Hallow, the two rappers Donald Trump welcomed on stage at his huge Bronx rally on Thursday, are charged as accessories in a 2023 murder case.
Sleepy Hallow, whose real name is Tegan Chambers, 24, has about 11 million monthly listeners on Spotify. He faces conspiracy charges in the gang case. Both he and Sheff G pleaded not guilty.
Footage captured on Thursday shows Sheff G walking towards the park where the protest took place with cameras following him as teenagers appear visibly excited at the sight of the rapper. One of them said: ‘My God. I’m Sheff G.’
Toward the end of his speech Thursday, Trump asked his supporters, “Does everyone know Sheff G?” Where is Sheff G? before also presenting Sleepy Hallow.
“President Trump, buddy,” Sheff G was heard saying before Trump gestured for him to come to the microphone.
‘One thing I want to say: they will always whisper your achievements and shout your failures. “Trump is going to shout victories for all of us,” Sheff G told the crowd before Sleepy Hallow stepped up to the microphone to deliver Trump’s “Make America Great Again” slogan.
A Trump campaign spokesperson was asked if the campaign was aware of the allegations and if it was the former president who sought the rappers’ support or the other way around.
“As Sheff G said, ‘They always whisper your accomplishments and shout your failures,'” campaign spokesman Steven Cheung responded in an email.
A spokesperson for the US Secret Service, which provides protection for Trump and secures his rallies, did not respond to a request for comment on Sheff G and Sleepy Hallow’s appearance on stage.
Sheff G, whose real name is Michael Williams, is a 25-year-old rapper whose songs and videos have millions of views on YouTube and streams on Spotify.
Sleepy Hallow, whose real name is Tegan Chambers, 24, has about 11 million monthly listeners on Spotify. He faces conspiracy charges in gang case
Both Sheff G and Sleepy Hallow are due back in court next month. Sheff G’s attorney, Arthur Aidala, said Friday that there was “intense litigation” underway and that “we are cautiously optimistic that Mr. Williams will be exonerated.”
A message was left with Sleepy Hallow’s attorney requesting comment on the case.
After being granted probation in his weapons case in June 2023, Sheff G was held on the new charges until last month, when a judge set bail at $1.5 million cash.
Sleepy Hallow was released on $200,000 bail in May 2023.
Prosecutors say Sheff G’s money fueled and rewarded multiple shootings as members of the 8 Trey Crips and 9 Ways-affiliated gangs battled enemies.
He invited Sleepy Hallow and others to a steak dinner to celebrate an October 2020 shooting that killed an alleged rival gang member and wounded five other people, prosecutors say.
‘That’s partly how Sheff G and Tegan Chambers – Sleepy Hallow – claim their influence, right? Because they get people out, they can spend money and they can encourage others to commit some of the gang violence that is vitally important to them and their status in the community,” González said at a May 2023 press conference. with New York Mayor Eric Adams. Both are Democrats.
Prosecutors have said they have surveillance video, text messages, social media posts, cellphone data and more to support the allegations.
While González has noted that the rappers’ songs refer to retaliation by gangs and some of their rivals, he has said that the lyrics were not used as evidence.
Rappers Sheff G (right), aka Michael Williams, and Sleepy Hallow, aka Tegan Chambers, join Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump during a campaign rally in the South Bronx.
Both Sheff G and Sleepy Hallow are due back in court next month. Sheff G’s attorney, Arthur Aidala, said Friday that there was “intense litigation” underway and that “we are cautiously optimistic that Mr. Williams will be exonerated.”
Prosecutors also say Sheff G drove three co-defendants to and from an April 2021 shooting that targeted a rival gang, but instead hit two bystanders.
The district attorney’s office declined to comment Friday on the case.
U.S. Rep. Ritchie Torres, a Democrat who represents the Bronx in Congress, said it’s an offensive strategy for Trump to associate with people accused of violent crimes to appeal to black voters.
“The conflation of communities of color with crime is a racist trope that Donald Trump repeats,” said Torres, who is black.
Trump called other speakers to the stage Thursday, including Republican Rep. Byron Donalds of Florida and the Rev. Rubén Díaz Sr., a former Democratic New York councilman and state senator.
Prosecutors also say Sheff G drove three co-defendants to and from an April 2021 shooting that targeted a rival gang, but hit two bystanders instead.
The crowd that gathered at Crotona Park in the South Bronx far exceeded the expected 3,500 people, and thousands were forced to wait outside the fenced area in hopes of catching a glimpse of the 45th president.
Worryingly for Democrats, the rally was filled with black and Hispanic people, two groups that Joe Biden has been accused of taking for granted, and who make up most of the surrounding population.
As Trump struggles to win over minority voters, the real estate mogul gave an hour-and-a-half speech about the decline of a city he loves, promising to “make New York great again” and be the first Republican to win the state. . since Ronald Reagan in 1984.
“Everyone wanted to be here,” he told the crowd that waited six hours to hear Trump. “But unfortunately this is now a city in decline.”
“But if one New Yorker can’t save this country, no one can.”