Three men were arrested and charged over an alleged assault on rapper Tekashi 6ix9ine, after he was beaten up at a Florida gym.
The rapper — given name Daniel Hernandez— suffered fractured ribs and a blood clot in his eye after being assaulted at the LA Fitness gym in south Florida on March 21.
The 26-year-old was taken to the hospital by an ambulance after the attack, which started in the gym's sauna.
On Thursday night, the Palm Beach County Sheriff's office arrested Rafael Medina Jr., 43, Octavious Medina, 23, and Anthony Maldonado, 25, for the alleged assault and robbery of 6ix9ine.
The Sheriff's Office confirmed the three men had been arrested on Thursday March 30 and were being processed at the Palm Beach County Jail.
Newsweek contacted 6ix9ine's representatives for comment.
Footage emerged on social media after the attack, showing the rapper lying on the floor of a restroom as men stood over him punching and kicking him.
Other videos showed 6ix9ine walking out of the restroom with a bloodied face as he pulled his signature rainbow colored hair away from his face.
"He was attacked in a sauna at a gym by several thugs who beat him up," 6ix9ine's lawyer, Lance Lazzaro, told Newsweek exclusively after the attack. Lazzaro added his client had "tried fighting back."
"He had cuts to his face (blood clot in eye) and bruises (fractured ribs). Employees heard the disturbance and the perpetrators fled," he said. "Police in South Florida were called and he was transported via ambulance to a local hospital."
While the reason for the attack remains unknown, Lazzaro told TMZ he would be beefing up his client's security to "make sure 6ix9ine gets the protection he clearly needs."
6ix9ine had previously himself faced up to 47 years in prison on racketeering, firearms and drug-trafficking offenses, which stemmed from his role in the New York gang, Nine Trey Gangsta Bloods.
During his sentencing in 2019, Judge Paul Engelmayer said 6ix9ine had been a "central figure in a vicious and brutal gang," and used it as his "personal hit squad."
But prosecutors asked for a reduced sentence for the rapper because of his "extraordinary" and "substantial" cooperation with the government to implicate other members of the gang.
The judge sentenced 6ix9ine to two years in prison, five years supervised release and 300 hours of community service. The rapper had already served 13 months at that stage and was released early from jail in 2020 to serve the remainder of his sentence under home arrest due to concerns over COVID.
He was released from house confinement in August 2020.
Update 3/31/23, 7:58 a.m. EDT: This article was updated with a comment from the Palm Beach County Sheriff's office.
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