The Triangle is Not for Trifling With

A strange call came to Riptide on Wednesday about the making of a rap video Monday night in good ‘ol Opa-locka. British Mitchell (AKA “Brisco: the Opa-locka Goon”) set up camp in the notorious Triangle. Brisco (a preeminent local talent in his genre) had come to shoot a video for the song “I’m in the Hood” for his upcoming albulm Street Medicine. He had chosen the bullet-pocked façade of a local convenience store at the intersection of Lincoln and Duval for his backdrop. The camera crew arrived with roughly 300 or 400 people in tow. The intersection –a notorious drug spot— is currently controlled by a drug gang known as 21 Jump who, according to the tipster, did not take kindly to Brisco’s arrival.

“These goons showed up and started arguing with him about his zip code,” said a befuddled member of the film crew who wished to remain anonymous. “They were like: ‘Motherfucker, you live three blocks over on the other side of the road.' ”

This situation was quickly defused, according to the tipster. Brisco says that there was never really any conflict to begin with. “Everything was beautiful,” he said by phone.

But the locals did not appreciate the late arrival of Lil’ Wayne in his Rolls Royce sedan. Members of 21 Jump had earlier threatened to shoot him on sight. Things reportedly calmed down after Wayne spent several hours in his trailer. The crew wrapped up the set around 9:30 p.m.

As things were winding down, a straggling thug attempted to rob someone leaving the area. The four off-duty Opa-locka cops working the shoot responded to the situation. As the young suspect fled the scene, when the officers followed, he turned around and “emptied an entire clip in their direction.”

“That was a real problem,” said the film crew member, who said his attempts to complement the local detail with Miami-Dade County cops had been turned down. The county, he alleges, had forbidden their officers from working off-duty details in that area; they consider it too dangerous.

“[The shooting] was happening about seventy five feet from our Grip truck and crew.” Brisco doesn’t recall any shooting; he had gone home before that happened.

The Opa-locka Triangle: a place where thug rappers and cops alike have to worry about being shot at. --Calvin Godfrey