In an ongoing trial dealing with gang activity in the Brooklyn area, lyrics from a rap record will be presented as incriminating evidence against the defendants, changing legal standards around using song lyrics as evidence.
The defendants of the trial are the alleged leaders of a Brooklyn gang called “Bully Gang,” who have been charged with murder and racketeering for killing two rivals and someone in their own ranks.
During the trial, the jury will be allowed to hear incriminating rap lyrics about why they wanted to take out one of the gang’s targets.
The Bedford-Stuyvesant gang reportedly trafficked fentanyl, heroin, and crack from New York to several Maine stash houses, recruiting sex workers to help with their drug trade and using physical abuse to keep them in order, according to the DEA. The “Bully Gang” also supposedly boasted of their power on social media in posts and videos
Evidence being used against the men includes a cooperating witness testimony, recorded jail calls, cell phone data, text messages, social media posts, and segments of a rap song, “Who Real As My Gang,” by BG Styx, a deceased member of the gang.
“YB’s killer, I’mma drop him,” the song reads, referring to the 2015 killing of “Bully Gang” co-founder Charles “YB” Williams in Queens.
The suspects on trial include Moeleek “Moe Money,” who’s described as the gang’s leader and co-founder; Derrick “Dee” Ayers, described as a high ranking member who ran the gang’s drug trafficking operation in Maine; Franklin “Spazz” Gillespie, an alleged enforcer accused of carrying out two murders personally, and Anthony “Biggie” Kennedy, another alleged longtime gang member.
“Those lyrics allude to a specific criminal motive tied to one of the allegations in this case, and therefore are sufficiently probative,” the judge overseeing the trial, Brian Cogan, said as reason for its usage in the case.
Other allegations include the March 3, 2018, murder of “Bully Gang” rival “Stukes Crew” member Jonathan Jackson. He reportedly opened fire on Bully Gang members at a gender reveal party, and had Ayers chase him down and shoot him dead on Kings Highway, according to the feds.
