NBC has quietly tightened security at its “Today” show studio in Manhattan following an incident in which co-host Craig Melvin was accosted by an intruder inside a secure vestibule, and months after the still-unsolved kidnapping of co-host Savannah Guthrie’s mother from her Tucson, Arizona home.
“It was much-needed and took longer than people would have liked, but it does feel a lot better now,” an unnamed insider told Page Six. Another source said staffers don’t mind the added inconvenience given what the show has been through.
Specific details of the new protocols have not been made public. In July, after police arrested an intruder who breached a secure area of the studio, an NBC spokesperson said the network was “reviewing the incident and our security protocols and remain committed to providing a safe and secure environment for everyone who works at and visits our studios.”
An internal memo obtained by Variety later that month, and since confirmed by NBC sources, outlined at least one concrete change: guests appearing on the show may now bring no more than two support personnel with them, whether stylists, spokespeople, or social media aides.
The Tucson Abduction
Nancy Guthrie, Savannah’s 84-year-old mother, was abducted from her home in Tucson’s Catalina Foothills neighborhood, in Pima County, Arizona, on Feb. 1. She has not been found. No suspects have been publicly named and no arrests have been made in the case.
The Studio Intrusion
While the Guthrie kidnapping remained unresolved, a homeless man identified as 41-year-old Andrew Truelove allegedly slipped onto the “Today” set, reportedly searching for Al Roker. Instead, he encountered Craig Melvin in a vestibule inside a secure area of the studio and allegedly confronted him with a racial slur.
A review of that morning’s broadcast footage shows a man matching Truelove’s description and clothing appearing repeatedly in the background during the 8 a.m. hour, according to the report.
Truelove has a criminal record stretching back decades. In 2007 he was convicted of attempting to abduct an 8-year-old child from a school in Norfolk, Virginia. He now faces hate crime charges of burglary, a felony, and menacing, a misdemeanor, over the Melvin incident.
Court records in New York show a man with the same name and age has other pending cases, including an alleged assault at the NYPD’s 5th Precinct in January, trespassing and reckless endangerment charges on the city’s transit system from May, and a 12-count criminal mischief indictment from last year.
A security guard was reportedly fired after the intruder made it into the unauthorized area where he targeted Melvin.
