One day after a scary on-set incident where an intruder confronted Craig Melvin, the Today co-host addressed the situation on Friday morning's episode.
“You may have heard that unfortunately an intruder made his way into an unauthorized area here at Studio 1A,” Melvin told the audience Friday. “Thankfully he was apprehended quickly, he was placed under arrest, we are cooperating fully with NYPD as they investigate the matter and we are just very happy that everyone is safe.”
On Thursday, a man named Andrew Truelove allegedly snuck past a security guard on the Today show set and made his way toward the co-hosts in search of Today's Al Roker, who wasn't on-screen at the time.
Truelove, who has a criminal history as well as mental health issues, instead approached Melvin and hurled a racial slur at the co-host before he was detained. The NYPD arrested Truelove soon after and charged him with three felonies — hate crime, burglary; hate crime, menacing; and hate crime, criminal trespass — as well as harassment.
NBC News acknowledged in a statement Thursday that “there was a security incident this morning at the Today show studio.” “An individual entered an unauthorized area in a vestibule near Studio 1A. The person approached anchor Craig Melvin, who alerted security,” the statement reads. “The individual was detained and taken into custody by law enforcement without further incident. There was no altercation, and no one was injured.”
According to TMZ, an NBC security guard was fired Thursday. Both Melvin and Roker returned to the airwaves 15 minutes after the accident.
Roker wrote on social media following the incident, “A really heartfelt thank you to all who reached out over the last 24 hours to check in on my brother, [Melvin]. We are both okay. It's moments like these that serve to pull us together. You all, like Craig said, 'You come after one of us, you come after all of us.'”
