The nutjob who allegedly stormed NBC’s “Today” Show set demanded to know where longtime anchor Al Roker was — before hurling a racial slur at host Craig Melvin, a Manhattan court heard. “Where is Roker?” Andrew Truelove, 41, allegedly shouted just before calling Melvin the N-word, according to prosecutors and law enforcement sources. Truelove —...
The nutjob who allegedly stormed NBC’s “Today” Show set demanded to know where longtime anchor Al Roker was — before hurling a racial slur at host Craig Melvin, a Manhattan court heard.
“Where is Roker?” Andrew Truelove, 41, allegedly shouted just before calling Melvin the N-word, according to prosecutors and law enforcement sources.
Truelove — who has racked up several arrests dating back more than a decade — is accused of slipping past security into an unauthorized area near Studio 1A at 30 Rock around 9 a.m. Thursday.
Andrew Truelove allegedly shouted, “where is Roker?” just before calling Melvin the N-word, according to prosecutors and law enforcement sources. Kevin C. Downs for NY PostHe was held on $10,000 bail by Manhattan Criminal Court Judge Jeffrey Gershuny — who also issued a protective order barring the lunatic from getting anywhere near the “Today” hosts.
Truelove allegedly followed a staffer who used their ID badge to get into the “employee’s only area” from the lobby, according to Manhattan Assistant District Attorney Millicent Kastenbaum.
The intruder then got to the bottom of a stairwell inside the employee’s only area — where he came face-to-face with Melvin, according to prosecutors and the sources.
Truelove then called out Melvin by name, demanding to know Roker’s whereabouts — before taking a few steps toward the host and berating him with a racial slur, according to the criminal complaint and sources.
When confronted by Melvin, who asked him if that was what he wanted to get arrested for, TrueLove allegedly told him, “I always wanted to call a black famous person the N-word.”
TrueLove has at least eight prior arrests in New York City, most of them for criminal mischief, dating back to July 2025, for allegedly damaging property, according to police and law enforcement sources.
He was most recently sentenced June 18 to time served and probation for the six months he spent behind bars on a criminal mischief rap. He had pleaded guilty in that case.
Al Roker greets fans on July 17, the day after Truelove allegedly stormed the show. Robert Miller for NY Post Security posted at checkpoint in Rockefeller Plaza on July 17, 2026. Robert Miller for NY PostSources also confirmed TrueLove’s criminal history out of state — including a 2012 arrest in Virginia for stealing signs from two playgrounds honoring the victims of the Sandy Hook mass shooting. He was sentenced to 12 months in prison in that case, according to a local report.
Virginia police said that they suspected Truelove was part of a group of “truthers” who believed conspiracy theories that the Connecticut massacre — which left 20 children and six adults dead — was fake, NBC News reported at the time.
He was previously sentenced to four years in prison for abduction when he went to a Virginia high school with a lug wrench in 2007 and grabbed an 8-year-old girl by the straps of her backpack, the Virginian-Pilot reported back then.
A psychiatrist at the time testified that Truelove suffered from bipolar disorder, including symptoms of depression and hallucinations, according to the report.
Truelove was arraigned late Thursday on charges of burglary in the third degree as a hate crime and menacing in the third degree as a hate crime for the “Today” incident. He faces up to 15 years in prison if convicted on the top charge.
The alleged bigot was being held at Rikers Island as of Friday, court records show.
His attorney, Lawrence Gerzog, did not return a request for comment.
TrueLove is due back in court on July 22.