The man who managed to slip past tight security at New York’s 30 Rockefeller Center and hurled a racial slur at “Today” show co-host Craig Melvin appeared before a judge on Friday to face charges stemming from the confrontation.
Andrew Truelove, 41, was charged with burglary and menacing, both in the third degree as hate crimes, after investigators said he entered the lobby just before 9 a.m. Thursday and snuck behind an employee who used their identification card to swipe into a restricted area, according to the criminal complaint.
Truelove was at the bottom of a stairwell when he spotted Melvin and shouted out to him, asking for the “Today” weather and feature anchor Al Roker, according to the complaint. He then took steps toward Melvin and hurled a racial slur at the “Today” show co-host, the complaint said. Both men are Black.
The entire exchange lasted about 10 seconds before Melvin followed Truelove out of the stairwell near Studio 1A and alerted security, who detained him before he was placed under arrest by an NYPD detail stationed outside 30 Rockefeller Plaza, according to a law enforcement official.
“That’s what you wanted to get arrested for,” Melvin asked the man moments after he was arrested, to which Truelove replied, “I always wanted to call a Black famous person the N-word,” according to the criminal complaint.
