Holly MatkinBrooklyn, NY – A shirtless aspiring rapper intent on getting footage for his next music video jumped on top of a city bus last week and blasted a handheld flamethrower into the air, putting dozens of riders at risk.
“[New York Mayor Bill] De Blasio is already burning this city to the ground — so what’s one more fire?” the rapper’s attorney, Cary London, asked the New York Daily News after his client was arrested.
The pyrotechnic stunt took place near the intersection of Putnam Avenue and Franklin Avenue in Bedford-Stuyvesant at approximately 5:30 p.m. on Nov. 8.
Christopher Dupree – who goes by the names of Dupree G.O.D. and Wordspit – leaped onto Metro Transportation Authority (MTA) bus from the roof of a nearby ice cream truck and began shooting blazing arcs up into the air as bystanders cheered, the New York Daily News reported.
There were 25 passengers on the B26 bus when the incident occurred, according to WPIX.
After shooting the flamethrower in multiple directions, Dupree ran back towards the rear of the bus and shot flames towards the ground, torching the pavement, the New York Daily News reported.
He then jumped off of the bus, landing next to the fire he’d started on the ground.
“What is you doing, n—-r?” someone yelled in the video.
“We outside, n—-r!” Dupree responded before he left the area.
Dupree posted overhead footage of the incident to his Instagram page, raving about his stunt, the New York Daily News reported.
Brooklyn is LIT #whatisnewyork pic.twitter.com/XNLNmaC01v
— WhatIsNewYork (@whatisny) November 17, 2020
“’Wutang’ music video shoot was insane. It was a movie. It was f—ing epic,” he declared. “Much everyone to all who came out. We shut Franklin Avenue Down. With amazing energy. We are in this together. We The ILLest. Video coming.”
None of the passengers aboard the bus were injured as a result of Dupree’s antics, the New York Daily News reported.
They were all transferred to another bus when they reached the next stop, according to police.
“We don’t even need to say how absurd, dangerous and just plain stupid this was,” MTA Spokesperson Tim Minton told the paper on Tuesday. “The reckless individual who torched over the top of an occupied bus put New Yorkers, including the bus operator, in life-threatening peril.”
Flame Thrower Bus Jump( special effects) pic.twitter.com/gEWNvwsqHv
— Dupree G.O.D (@DupreeGOD) November 10, 2020
Minton said the bus operator courageously moved riders to safety and minimized the risk of them being harmed.
Dupree turned himself in to police on Wednesday, but not before he allegedly called around to various Manhattan public-relations firms looking for an endorsement deal, the New York Post reported.
He allegedly told one firm he wanted “to wear apparel while getting arrested if any brand will pay him,” and that he was “looking for a PR firm who wants to maximize on all the publicity he’s gotten,” an employee at the unnamed firm said.
It is unclear whether or not the little-known rapper landed the deal he was looking for.
Me and my boys are playing Spin Da bottle !!!
Flame thrower edition. pic.twitter.com/hLZYkQqPbA
— Dupree G.O.D (@DupreeGOD) November 3, 2020
He was seen shaking the hand of one of the NYPD officers before turning around to be handcuffed, the New York Daily News reported.
“Everything was in a safe, controlled environment,” he said. “It’s for the art. For the Wu-Tang.”
NYPD Chief of Detectives Rodney Harrison scoffed at Dupree’s claim that using the roof of an occupied bus as a stage while blasting fire into the air was in any way “controlled,” the New York Daily News reported.
“Let me ask you something. Jumping on a bus – is that a controlled environment?” Chief Harrison asked during a press conference after Dupree’s arrest. “And also, mind you, there were people on the bus as well, so I don’t know about you but, if my mother’s on that bus, and somebody’s on the roof shooting a flamethrower, I don’t know, but I’m gonna take that a little personal.”
The chief noted that Dupree was “wildly shooting a flamethrower” back and forth throughout the incident.
“At points in the video, the roof of the bus was ignited by the lighter fluid,” he said. “Thankfully, the bus did not catch on fire and no one on the bus was injured.”
Dupree now faces a reckless endangerment charge, according to the New York Daily News.
Investigators said they have not located the flamethrower he used during the incident.
Sandy Malone
