A rapper who was indicted on drug charges in 2010 and accused of running violent drug gang out of the Gowanus Projects has now been indicted for a murder he tweeted about getting away with. Ronald Herron, a.k.a. Ra Diggs, a.k.a. "The Big Homie," was indicted for three murders, including one that prosecutors say he bragged about on Twitter. Herron's tweets include claims that he once had someone "shot from a hospital bed" and that his team of "niggas will kill for meee." Authorities also say he boasted online about how he "beat a body," allegedly referring to the murder of one Frederick Brooks. "His Tweets were premature," Police Commissioner Ray Kelly said today.
Herron was tried for Brooks's murder in 2001 in state Supreme Court, and he beat the rap because prosecutors say two witnesses refused to testify after his associates threatened them. Herron participated in the slayings of Richard Russo in 2008 and Victor Zapata in 2009 at the Gowanus Houses, the indictment says. In addition, Herron is accused of three attempted murders, including a 2008 stabbing at a nightclub in Manhattan. He's charged with 23 counts, including racketeering, murder, murder in-aid-of racketeering, murder conspiracy, attempted murder, robbery, illegal use and possession of firearms, and narcotics trafficking
According to prosecutors, Herron posted videos of himself on the Internet in which he identified himself as the leader of the “Murderous Mad Dogs." The videos also showed Herron firing weapons and threatening to use them to kill people. "As alleged, Ronald Herron and his gang terrorized a Brooklyn community for more than a decade, and he temporarily got away with murder by threatening and intimidating witnesses, only to return to the streets of Brooklyn to kill again and again,” said United States Attorney Loretta Lynch. “Thanks to the hard work and close cooperation between federal and local law enforcement, the defendant will now be held to account for his charged long history of violence. Our commitment to dismantling street gangs and to protecting our community from the ravages of gang warfare remains steadfast."
