The man accused of barging into NBC’s “Today” show studios and allegedly hurling a racist slur at co-anchor Craig Melvin Thursday had spent years cycling through the criminal justice system, including prison time, homelessness in California and multiple recent arrests in New York.
Andrew Truelove, 41, allegedly slipped into a restricted vestibule near Studio 1A at 30 Rockefeller Plaza around 9 a.m. and demanded to see longtime weatherman Al Roker, law enforcement sources said.
Instead, he encountered Melvin and allegedly called him the N-word.
Melvin alerted security, and an NYPD officer working a paid detail inside the building detained Truelove, according to police.
He was taken to the Midtown North Precinct and charged with burglary, menacing and criminal trespass as hate crimes, as well as harassment, police said.
Law enforcement sources said Truelove has been arrested several times in New York City within the past year.
His criminal history stretches back years.
In 2023, Truelove was homeless in California after arriving from his native Virginia just two days after completing supervised probation, according to the Los Angeles Times.
Before that, he had served prison time following what was described as a string of felony offenses.
After landing at LAX, Truelove drifted across California before exhausting most of his money and winding up living on the streets of Southern California.
At the time, he said he suffered from PTSD and a related mood disorder and had no friends or family in the state.
He spent much of his time sleeping outdoors and lingering outside a 7-Eleven after his plans to launch a social media platform fell apart.
