Unsettling video from Thursday’s Today broadcast appears to capture the man accused of lunging at anchor Craig Melvin standing just outside the studio shortly before the incident unfolded.
Police said Andrew Truelove, 41, rushed onto the show’s set at about 8.57am ET.
In a segment fronted by Melvin and co-anchor Savannah Guthrie around 8.10am, the suspected intruder appeared to be visible in the background through the program’s famous glass-walled studio.
Melvin and Guthrie, seemingly unaware of the figure behind them, carried on with a report about a nearly 1,700-pound great white shark believed to be making its way toward Cape Cod.
As the broadcast continued, the person outside could be seen pacing, looking at his phone and taking puffs from a pink vape.
Just minutes later, during a short break before 9am, Melvin, 47, came across Truelove inside a restricted section of 30 Rock, according to police.
Manhattan Assistant District Attorney Millicent Kastenbaum said this week that Truelove is believed to have slipped into the employees-only area by following a staff member who had used a badge to enter.
Prosecutors allege he asked for Al Roker before confronting Melvin and shouting a racial slur. After being chased into the building’s lobby, he was stopped by security and later taken into custody.
Video from Thursday appears to show the suspect in the Today intruder case strolling around 30 Rock Plaza before getting inside the building and allegedly attempting to attack Craig Melvin, seen here reporting on a record-setting, wayward shark making its way up the Atlantic
Andrew Truelove, 41, has since been identified as the suspect. He is charged with hate crime menacing, hate crime burglary, hate crime criminal trespass and harassment
Melvin returned to the air, with Roker at his side, at around 9.15am. Neither acknowledged the incident.
Truelove was identified as the suspect later that night. He has been charged with burglary as a hate crime, menacing as a hate crime, criminal trespass as a hate crime, and harassment.
Truelove, while homeless on the streets of Los Angeles, was profiled by the LA Times in 2023 after attempting to launch a social media company.
READ MORE: Who is Kelsey Mitchell Dating? Current Relationship Status Revealed
He managed to slip past security guards stationed in front of a vestibule near Studio 1A and into a restricted area, police said.
NBC News confirmed in its own statement that it was Melvin who alerted security.
An unidentified Today show security guard was fired after the incident, according to TMZ.
Melvin replaced Hoda Kotb as one of the show’s permanent anchors early last year. His profile has grown sizably since.
Roker, 71, is one of the program’s most recognizable presences, having made regular appearances since 1996. Both men addressed the incident in statements on Friday.
Both hosts continued the segment. The incident occurred within the hour
Melvin returned to the air with fellow host Roker after the incident, later confirming he was all right
Separately, Guthrie said Thursday that she was stepping away from the show for several weeks to host a TV adaptation of the popular New York Times puzzle game Wordle.
The 54-year-old took a break from the show earlier this year following the abduction of her mother, Nancy Guthrie.
Guthrie, 84, stepped away at the start of the search in February. She returned in April.
Nancy was last seen at her home in Tucson, Arizona.
