Gang Members Charged After Threatening To Kill The Child Of Testifying Witness

United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, Jay Clayton, Commissioner of the New York City Police Department (“NYPD”), Jessica S. Tisch, and United States Marshal for the Southern District of New York, Ricky J. Patel, announced today the unsealing of a Superseding Indictment charging two gang members with witness tampering and witness retaliation: TYSHAWN PALMER, a/k/a “Ty Boogie,” a/k/a “pte_tm,” and HASSAN BROWN, a/k/a “Twin,” a/k/a “everythingsleezy.” The charges relate to threats that PALMER and BROWN made to a witness during a racketeering and murder trial, United States v. Lamar Williams, which concluded last week with the jury returning a verdict of guilty on all counts. Both PALMER and BROWN were arrested this morning. The case is assigned to U.S. District Judge Loretta A. Preska, who also presided over the Williams trial. “Threatening a witness and that witness’s family is an attack on our judicial system, the rule of law, and our society,” said U.S. Attorney Jay Clayton. “As alleged, Tyshawn Palmer and Hassan Brown retaliated against a testifying witness in a federal murder trial. In our federal courts, witness intimidation will not work—rather, it will be met with swift justice.” “The alleged actions taken by the defendants to intimidate witnesses and their family members with violence are a deliberate attack on the integrity of our judicial system,” said NYPD Commissioner Jessica S. Tisch. “We will not tolerate any attempt to influence the course of justice, and I thank the U.S. Attorney’s Office for their continued partnership on this case." “As alleged, defendants Palmer and Brown attempted to undermine the rule of law and erode our justice system by witness tampering and retaliation,” said U.S. Marshal Ricky J. Patel. “Their actions have been met with the profound reaction they face today after being charged and arrested by the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York, the United States Marshals Service, and the NYPD. The U.S. Marshals have been responsible for the protection of the federal judicial process since 1789, a responsibility taken very seriously to this day. Ensuring the judicial process operates independently and free from harm or intimidation is paramount for law and order. I commend the collective work of the Deputy U.S. Marshals who investigated and arrested these individuals along with our law enforcement partners in this case.” As alleged in the Superseding Indictment, other court filings, and statements made during court proceedings:[1] Between February 2 and February 11, 2026, a jury in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York sat for the federal criminal trial of United States v. Lamar Williams, 22 Cr. 600 (LAP) (S.D.N.Y.) (the “Trial”), in which Lamar Williams, a leader of the violent Mac Ballers gang in the Bronx, New York, was charged with participating in the Mac Ballers racketeering conspiracy, murder in aid of racketeering, and murder through the use of a firearm. On February 4 and February 5, 2026, a witness (the “Witness”) testified about the August 2013 murder that Williams committed, among other crimes. Subsequently, the jury unanimously convicted Williams on all counts. On or about February 4, 2026, PALMER and BROWN, who are Williams’s Mac Baller associates and have known both Williams and the Witness for years, learned that the Witness was testifying in the Trial. During and after the Witness’s testimony, PALMER and BROWN, and other Mac Baller members and associates, used Instagram to post and repost threats designed to retaliate against the Witness for the Witness’s testimony, and to prevent or influence the Witness from providing further testimony or information to law enforcement. In particular, PALMER and BROWN posted and reposted, among other things, the Instagram account name and photograph of the Witness; posts that repeatedly referred to the Witness as a “rat” and a “snitch”; and photographs of the Witness’s family members, including a photograph of the Witness and the Witness’s young child, in which the defendants threatened to “kill[ ]” the Witness’s child “at his school.”