Arrests made at Summer Jam concert after some fans clash with State Police
Some of the music fans at the Hot 97 Summer Jam clashed with law enforcement officers at MetLife Stadium on Sunday night, and State Police in riot gear called in two Bearcat armored personnel carriers and shot streams of pepper spray gas as angry concertgoers hurled bottles, according to reports from the scene.
Update, June 9: Hot 97 DJs condemn fans' actions
State Police spokesman Sgt. Gregory Williams said he could confirm only that "additional troopers" had been dispatched to the stadium in East Rutherford, but he could not say how many. He said there were "multiple arrests" inside and outside the stadium, but that he could not give precise numbers.
Photos: Police, Summer Jam concertgoers clash at MetLife Stadium
The concert, with headliners Kendrick Lamar and Chris Brown, continued despite the unrest.
People at the scene said police used sound generators to produce a screeching, ear-pounding noise in an effort to disperse the crowd, only to see it regroup and attack with bottles at another site in the parking lot.
Hundreds of troopers and police officers called in from nearby communities pushed back against crowds of people angry that they could not get into the stadium, using clubs and riot shields, according to reports from the scene.
Shortly after 11 p.m., State Police issued an official statement on the unrest at the stadium.
“This evening, security personnel at one of the entrance gates to MetLife Stadium were confronted by crowds attempting to illegally enter the sold out Summer Jam concert by climbing over fences and forcing their way through security personnel,” the statement said, adding, “The gates have been shut and troopers on site have called for assistance from several nearby stations to help maintain order.”
“Troopers and stadium security officials are insisting that all people outside of the gates depart the MetLife grounds to avoid congestion when the concert lets out,” the statement said. “There is no number of arrests available at this time.”
A Record photographer said that he was hit over the head by a trooper with a riot shield as he sought to take photographs of the unfolding mayhem. The photographer, Tyson Trish, said that he was not badly hurt in the incident.
Trish said he could smell the pepper spray, described as "OC gas," or oleoresin capsicum, an irritant frequently used to control crowds in confrontational situations.
Dwayne Everett, 36, of Manhattan, said he was waiting near the front of the line to get in with a $90 ticket he had purchased from StubHub, when the gates were suddenly closed and police started to shoot pepper spray at him and the rest of the crowd.
A spokesperson for Emmis New York, which owns Hot 97, said in an email message: “Due to strong demand for tickets for Summer Jam 2015, the show sold out early this evening. When fans realized tickets were not available at the box office, a small number of people created an unsafe environment, and for the safety of all guests, the New Jersey State Police were on scene to disperse the crowd. The gates were closed at that time. No further entry was permitted into the event.”
The spokesperson said that refunds would be offered for tickets that were not scanned.
About 11:15 p.m., as the concert drew to a close, people inside began to file out and expressed shock at the remnants of glass and trash that they were seeing.
“I didn’t think I’d see this,” said one concert-goer, who declined to give his name.
Another, who said her name was Misha and that she came from Jamaica, Queens, said she had been unaware that anything was happening outside the stadium as she sat inside. “It was fabulous,” she said, adding that she “had a blast.” But she expressed concern that the incident would cause MetLife to refuse to host the event again. “This right here will stop Summer Jam,” she said.
Grace Gale, 22, of Westchester County, said she had been surprised to see entire sections of vacant seats inside the stadium.
The disturbance started about 7 p.m., when a fight broke out among concertgoers and police shut the gates to prevent more people from going in. Fences and metal barriers were trampled in the surge of people angered that they could not get in.
One group of concertgoers said they had paid $1,400 to charter a bus to bring them to the stadium from Brooklyn, in addition to as much as $600 each for tickets to the event. But when they arrived they found the venue locked down and they were unable to get in.
"We paid $250 each for the VIP area and when we got here we couldn't even get in," said Iris Castro of Long Island, who was treating her sister as a birthday gift. Castro said when she asked who to see about a refund, she was told to call Ticketmaster. She said she had seen two people being pepper-sprayed by police.
Eric De La Cruz, 19, of Woodbridge Township, said he had been hired to shoot video for one of the artists at the concert, but when he arrived he found the gates closed. After about an hour, he said, people began to get angry and started throwing bottles and overturning trash cans.
In addition to Lamar and Brown, Trey Songz, Big Sean and others were scheduled to perform in what had been described as "the hottest hip hop event of the year."
Email: norman@northjersey.com
