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50 Cent reacts after his rapper 'son' 6ix9ine is arrested on racketeering charges

Rapper 50 Cent has publicly reacted to 6ix9ine's arrest by taunting him and referring to him as his 'son'.

6ix9ine, real name Daniel Hernandez – who is also known by the stage name Tekashi69 – faces 32 years to life in prison after being arrested on Sunday on racketeering charges.

6ix9ine and 50 Cent have referred to each other as family on social media. The 22-year-old Brooklyn rapper has referred to 50 Cent as his father, while 50 Cent – real name Curtis James Jackson III – has called 6ix9ine his son.

After 6ix9ine's arrest, however, 50 Cent appeared to renounce him in an Instagram post. "My son got picked up, I told him don’t call me s**t," he wrote. "The Fed’s on you fool, call ya momma don’t put the FBI on my phone. Positive vibes only."

Back in June, 50 Cent shared a photo of himself with 6ix9ine and wrote in the caption: "Your not gonna believe this but l dated a Mexican girl back in the day. [sic]

"l took a blood test and just found out 69’s my son, no wonder he acts like that."

Last month, 6ix9ine shared a video of himself with 50 Cent and called him "Pops" in the accompanying post.

On Monday, 6ix9ine was deemed a likely danger to the community and denied bail after a prosecutor said there was evidence that he directed or participated in multiple acts of violence as part of a deadly gang.

US Magistrate Judge Henry B Pitman concluded an hour-long hearing by citing "troubling" corroborating evidence offered by a prosecutor to show that 6ix9ine directed or participated in multiple acts of violence over the last eight months.

Assistant US Attorney Michael Longyear said a backpack stolen during a gunpoint robbery in April was found during a raid at 6ix9ine's Brooklyn residence, along with an automatic pistol.

"The defendant is quite violent," the prosecutor said of a man whose debut album, Day 69, was among the most downloaded records on iTunes.

Longyear said 6ix9ine was captured on surveillance video as he sat in a car and filmed the scene in Times Square when his co-defendants carried out a violent robbery against a rival gang member.

The prosecutor said he was also part of a video boasting about shots recently fired by a co-defendant in Brooklyn's Barclays Centre.

Longyear also said the rapper was a threat to flee because of his worldwide connections, hundreds of thousands of dollars in cash and the knowledge that a conviction would bring a mandatory minimum sentence of 32 years in prison and as much as life.

Pitman ordered 6ix9ine held until a bail hearing, saying he was concerned about the danger to the community, particularly because the rapper could direct others to carry out acts of violence.

6ix9ine was among five people charged in an indictment containing racketeering and firearms charges. The indictment alleged that he participated in the July shooting of a bystander in Brooklyn and the gunpoint robbery of one of his gang's rivals last spring.

His lawyer, Lance Lazzaro, said 6ix9nine posed no threat and denies directing or playing any other role in violence.

Lazzaro said his client had fired some of his co-defendants as part of his management and security team last week and was offered protection by federal agents on Saturday after some of them were overheard on wiretaps threatening his life.

After the rapper refused protection, he was arrested on Sunday.

6ix9ine has been one of the most ascendant and controversial names in hip-hop in recent months. His album Day69: Graduation Day was among the top records on iTunes following its February release.

He is also known for the multiplatinum hit "Fefe" with Nicki Minaj, which peaked at No. 3 on the pop charts, and "Stoopid," featuring the incarcerated rapper Bobby Shmurda.

But 6ix9ine also has had a series of run-ins with law enforcement and has publicly identified himself as a member of a violent New York gang, 9 Trey Bloods, which was mentioned throughout the indictment.

Prosecutors said the gang carried out acts of murder, robbery and narcotics trafficking in Manhattan, the Bronx and Brooklyn since at least 2013.

The indictment said each gang member was required to participate in at least two acts of racketeering conspiracy. Those acts could include murder, robbery, extortion and drug distribution, the court papers said.

The 22-year-old recently pleaded guilty to disorderly conduct in Brooklyn Criminal Court in connection with a May traffic stop.

In a 2015 case in New York, 6ix9ine was sentenced to probation for his involvement in a sexually explicit video of a 13-year-old girl.

The video, posted on social media, showed the girl performing a sex act on another man while 6ix9ine "stands behind the child making a thrusting motion with his pelvis and smacking her on her buttocks," according to court documents.

Additional reporting was provided by AP.