What To Know
- A security guard at the Today show was fired after an intruder entered Studio 1A and yelled a racial slur at Craig Melvin.
- The intruder, Andrew Truelove, who has a history of mental health issues and prior arrests.
- Today show and NBC stated that no one was injured and law enforcement responded promptly.
A security guard from the Today show has been fired just hours after an intruder made his way into 30 Rockefeller Plaza and confronted anchor Craig Melvin while yelling a racial slur.
According to TMZ, the unidentified security guard was fired on Thursday (July 16) after allegedly allowing the suspect to slip into Studio 1A, causing the scary and upsetting incident. Security footage reportedly shows two guards at the studio entrance, per Page Six, who says one guard briefly stepped away while the other failed to notice the intruder entering the restricted area.
The suspect was later identified as Andrew Truelove, a 41-year-old man who was profiled by the Los Angeles Times in 2023. The article detailed Truelove’s move to California in hopes of launching a social media company, only to end up homeless on the streets.
Truelove, who struggles with PTSD and a related mood disorder, has had a number of run-ins with law enforcement over the past several years. The profile noted that he had completed supervised probation just two days before leaving the East Coast for the West.
Following the Today show incident, Truelove was arrested on charges of hate crime menacing, hate crime burglary, hate crime criminal trespass, and harassment, per Page Six.
Suspect Andrew Truelove; Genaro Molina/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images
According to ABC 6 News, Truelove was arrested twice in May on charges including trespassing and reckless endangerment, following an earlier arrest for assault in January. In 2025, he was charged with criminal mischief on five separate occasions.
Truelove had also spent years in state prisons and local jails in his home state of Virginia prior to his LA Times profile. He admitted that some of his crimes were influenced by extremist views, including a belief that the 2012 Sandy Hook school shooting never happened. In 2012, he stole two signs memorializing young victims and spent several years behind bars.
He was also arrested for an incident in 2010 when he went to a school in Norfolk, Virginia, and grabbed an eight-year-old girl by her backpack while wielding a lug wrench. He later claimed he’d gone to the school to protect students from bullies.
Taylor Twellman to Fill in for Craig Melvin on ‘Today’: What to Know
Before his sentencing for the 2010 crime, a psychiatrist diagnosed Truelove with symptoms of bipolar disorder, noting that his mental health issues played a role in the Norfolk incident. He was given a four-year sentence and ordered to receive psychiatric treatment and comply with any prescribed medication regimen.
The Today show released a statement on Thursday, confirming that a man was detained after Melvin alerted security to the suspect.
“The individual was detained and taken into custody by law enforcement without further incident. There was no altercation, and no one was injured. Today is cooperating fully with law enforcement as they investigate the matter,” the statement read.
It continued, “NBC and Today take the safety and security of our employees, talent, staff and guests extremely seriously. We are reviewing the incident and our security protocols and remain committed to providing a safe and secure environment for everyone who works at and visits our studios.”