The Today Show has always been “the crown jewel” of NBC News. The Today Show has had some really rough moments, but everyone believed that the post-Matt Lauer era was good and professional – the co-anchors are genuinely close, all of the correspondents have good chemistry, people seem to really get along well. Then Savannah Guthrie’s mother was abducted and, from the sound of things, everyone at the Today Show and at 30 Rock has been on edge ever since. Well, 30 Rock needs better security, because some nutcase slipped past the guards and then went hunting for Al Roker. When the guy couldn’t find Roker, he shouted racist abuse at Craig Melvin. Then the guy was detained and arrested.

NBC’s Today morning show had a security breach on Thursday morning just after 9 a.m. that led to the arrest of an unauthorized intruder and no one was harmed.

The New York City Police in a statement to The Hollywood Reporter said “at approximately 9:19 hours, it was reported to officers that there was a disorderly person inside 30 Rockefeller Center, within the confines of the Midtown North Precinct.”

That was preceded at 8:57 a.m. with a uniformed officer stationed just outside 30 Rockefeller Center being told of a “disorderly individual” inside the building. “Immediately thereafter, the responding officer entered into the building and placed the individual in custody without incident. There were no injuries reported, and the investigation remains active and ongoing. Charges are pending,” the NYPD said in a statement.

It’s understood from NYPD sources that the intruder entered the lobby, got past security, and moved through the first-floor gold doors to the stairs to reach Studio1A. Within seconds, the unauthorized visitor apparently got into a “verbal exchange” on the staircase.

According to a statement received from NBC, the encounter was with Today co-anchor Craig Melvin. The intruder was then pursued back into the lobby at 30 Rockefeller Center, where he was temporarily detained by security officers. At that point, the NYPD officer assigned to 30 Rockefeller Center was told by security of the lobby entrance incident and, on entering the building, placed the intruder under arrest and in handcuffs.

According to TMZ, which was the first to report on the incident, the intruder had been looking for Today host Al Roker. Unable to find Roker, the stranger reportedly approached Today host Craig Melvin and yelled a racial slur before being detained.

“Officers responded and placed an unidentified individual into custody. There were no injuries reported. The investigation remains ongoing,” the NYPD added in its first statement made public on Thursday morning.

After calm had been restored to the Today set, Melvin and fellow host Al Roker appeared on air and made no mention of the security breach on the Thursday morning show.

[From THR]

According to NBC’s announcement, Craig Melvin was the one who alerted security about the man. It’s awesome that right after that, Melvin was back on air like nothing happened. I would have needed the rest of the day off, good lord. Between this and the Savannah situation, it really feels like there are some dark forces out to harm the Today Show. According to Page Six, Today Show staffers were “already on edge because of Savannah” and they find this whole situation “chilling” and “f–king insane.” Melvin’s coworkers are thankful that this guy didn’t actually physically attack Melvin. I hope everyone over there stays safe.

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red.