Trump appeared on stage at his Bronx rally with two rappers charged in a felony gang case

NEW YORK (AP) — Former President Donald Trump, at his rally this week in the Bronx, invited two rappers on stage who have been charged in a sweeping gang case, with one of them facing attempted murder charges.

Michael Williams, better known as Sheff G, is a 25-year-old rapper whose songs and videos have millions of YouTube views and Spotify streams. He’s also a central figure in the gang case unveiled by Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez over a year ago, while he was serving a separate attempted weapons possession sentence.

Tegan Chambers, 24, who raps as Sleepy Hallow, has close to 11 million monthly listeners on Spotify. He faces conspiracy charges in the gang case. Both he and Sheff G have pleaded not guilty.

The presumptive Republican presidential nominee’s appearance with suspected gang members comes as Trump is on trial himself in his New York hush money case and as he recurringly slams New York and other Democrat-run cities as crime-ridden. Trump has railed against the Manhattan district attorney who is prosecuting him for “letting violent crime run rampant all over our city.”

Challenging the reelection of President Joe Biden, Trump is trying to make inroads with Black Americans, who are traditionally supportive of the Democratic Party. AP VoteCast found Trump won just 8% of Black voters nationwide in 2020 versus 91% who voted for Biden.

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