Crime

Murder and mayhem erupt during Miami’s Rolling Loud weekend

ROLLINGOUT.COM — Rolling Loud stands as the premiere hip-hop music festival of Spring.

Published

7 years ago

May 18, 2019

By A.R. Shaw

Rolling Loud stands as the premiere hip-hop music festival of Spring. For three days, top artists such as Cardi B, Gucci Mane, Wiz Khalifa, DMX and Travis Scott performed at the Hard Stadium in Miami Gardens, Florida.

However, the weekend was marred by rappers who were involved in shootings and arrests in the Miami area. During the early morning hours of May 11, rapper AAB Hellabandz was shot and killed in a shooting that occurred at Cameo nightclub on Miami Beach. Hellabandz, whose real name is Ameer Golston, was a Chicago-based rapper who worked with Lil Durk.

On May 10, it was initially reported by TMZ that Young Thug was targeted after performing at LIV in Miami. The Atlanta-based rapper was reportedly riding in a Ferrari alongside two buses when someone opened fire on him and the buses. Three people were injured and taken to a hospital with non-life-threatening injuries, but Young Thug escaped unharmed. A spokesperson for the rapper later said that someone shot at a car driven by DJ Keyz, not Young Thug. Police have yet to confirm who was involved in the shooting.

On May 11, Lil Wayne was scheduled to perform at Rolling Loud, but canceled his performance after he was told that he needed to be searched by police before entering.

“Hard Rock Stadium has a policy where no one gets on the property unless they’re scanned,” Alvaro Zabaleta of the Miami-Dade Police Department shared with this publication. “That is mandated by the stadium. All artists and fans must be checked by security and he [Lil Wayne] didn’t want to comply.”

Kodak Black, whose real name is Bill Kapri, was arrested on festival grounds on the evening of May 11. According to police, he was arrested on weapons charges.

“[Kapri] was arrested due to federal warrants that were issued,” Zabaleta shared. “Our department assisted with the arrest, but the ATF acted as the lead because he faces federal charges.”

Finally, on May 12, NBA Youngboy was involved in a shootout at Trump Beach Resort on Miami Beach. One person was killed and a woman, Kay Marie, who is reportedly NBA Youngboy’s girlfriend, was shot and taken to the hospital.

But while significant violence took place during the weekend in the Miami area, police did not report any major incidents on festival grounds beyond the high-profile arrest of Kodak Black.

“The Miami-Dade Police Department took all necessary precautions to ensure everyone’s safety,” Zabaleta said. “There were no major incidents at the festival itself.”

This article originally appeared in Rollingout.com.

A.R. Shaw

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AG Bonta Announces Action on Cryptocurrency, Sextortion Fraud – Increasingly Targeting Gen-Z

California Attorney General Rob Bonta is warning residents about a surge in cryptocurrency fraud and online sextortion schemes that increasingly target Gen Z through social media platforms. With internet-based scams costing Americans nearly $21 billion in 2023, Bonta highlighted how artificial intelligence and deepfakes allow criminals to impersonate loved ones and promote fraudulent investment groups. The Attorney General’s Office has already shut down over 100 fraudulent websites and is now utilizing new legislative tools to recover assets for victims. Read more.

Published

1 week ago

November 3, 2026

Post News Group

By Bo Tefu, California Black Media

California Attorney General Rob Bonta warned residents about rising cryptocurrency fraud and online sextortion scams, urging Californians to recognize warning signs and protect themselves as scammers increasingly target younger people through social media.

Speaking at a news conference on Oct. 19, Bonta said Americans lost $20.9 billion to internet-based scams in 2025, including $11.4 billion to cryptocurrency scams. He said artificial intelligence, deepfakes, and malicious smart contracts have made fraud easier to carry out and more difficult to detect and prevent.

While older Californians remain targets, Bonta said his office has seen a sharp rise in reports of Gen Z consumers being targeted on platforms such as Twitch, TikTok, and Instagram.

One growing scheme involves so-called rug-pull scams, in which fraudsters promote low-priced stocks or volatile cryptocurrencies through online investment groups and streaming communities. After generating interest and driving up prices, scammers sell their holdings, causing values to collapse and leaving investors with losses.

Bonta also warned about sextortion, in which scammers trick or coerce victims into sharing explicit images before threatening to distribute them to friends and family unless they pay. He advised victims not to give in to demands, saying scammers often do not release the images when victims refuse to pay. Instead, he recommended ignoring and blocking the perpetrators.

Another scheme, known as recovery fraud, targets people who have already lost money to cryptocurrency scams. Fraudsters impersonate blockchain recovery specialists or law enforcement officials and demand additional payments while promising to recover stolen assets.

Bonta urged Californians to be skeptical of promises of large returns on small investments, fake cryptocurrencies resembling established ones, and celebrity endorsements that may have been generated using artificial intelligence. He also warned that scammers can use AI to impersonate loved ones through manipulated video and audio.

“Never use a crypto ATM,” Bonta said, emphasizing that transactions can be difficult to trace and reverse and that the machines lack adequate consumer protections.

His office has shut down more than 100 fraudulent websites over the past two years that collectively scammed victims out of at least $8.3 million, he said.

Bonta also highlighted Senate Bill 1208, which he said was recently signed into law. The measure allows law enforcement to petition a court to return seized cryptocurrency to victims, including when alleged perpetrators are outside U.S. jurisdiction.

Residents who have fallen victim to scams can report them to the California Department of Justice at oag.ca.gov/report.

Bonta also urged victims not to feel embarrassed, stressing that scammers are responsible for the harm they cause.