Today show personalities Craig Melvin and Al Roker have taken out a restraining order after an intruder stormed NBC studios and allegedly shouted a racial slur.
The co-anchor and weatherman have obtained court-ordered protection against Andrew Truelove, 41, TMZ reported.
Truelove allegedly slipped past security on Thursday while looking for Roker, 71, but turned his attention to Melvin, 47, instead, yelling the N-word and lunging toward him. Melvin was not injured, and Truelove was restrained by security and arrested.
Truelove was charged with burglary as a hate crime, menacing as a hate crime, criminal trespass as a hate crime, and harassment. He is currently being held at Rikers Island on $20,000 bail.
Truelove’s attorney, Lawrence Gerzog, told TMZ that a judge issued a protective order requiring him to stay away from both Roker and Melvin.
Roker has been a fixture on NBC’s morning show for decades and has hosted the network’s Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade coverage every year since 1995, except for one.
Following the incident, Roker thanked everyone who had checked in on his “brother” Melvin and confirmed that they 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,’” he wrote on Instagram.
Melvin, who joined the Today show in 2018 and was promoted to co-anchor last January, returned on air with Roker after the incident. He later addressed the off-air attack on X, writing that he was “doing just fine” and thanking those who reached out with messages of support.
The co-anchor spoke about the incident in more detail on Friday’s morning show, saying that “thankfully” the perpetrator was arrested quickly and that the team is “cooperating fully” with the investigation while being “very happy that everyone is safe.”
NBC has reportedly dismissed one of the two security guards on duty when Truelove allegedly breached the network’s Rockefeller Center headquarters and entered Studio 1A, where he was not authorized to be.
According to records seen by The Independent, Truelove is due back in court on July 22.
