Riots Break Out Outside of Hot 97’s Summer Jam

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mLhVHJrR1xE

Witnesses say the disturbance began around 7 p.m. due to an altercation between concertgoers. That’s when officials shut the gates to the show, the Hot 97 Summer Jam at the MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, causing a logjam of people at the MetLife gate, which in turn led to metal barriers being toppled and thrown.

After concertgoers began throwing bottles in response, police then took up a defensive V-shaped position in front of the stadium gates as a barrage of bottles pelted the officers.

An armored State Police vehicle came into the middle of the crowd and activated a piercing alarm to try to disrupt the crowd of about 1,000 people.

“Apparently a fight happened inside, so they stopped letting people inside,” said Chris Figueroa of Long Island, who was in the middle of the crowd. “I never experienced anything like that — I thought somebody might’ve had a gun.”

Figueroa and companion Bryanna Ugarte, also of Long Island, left the scene when the bottles started flying.

“We ran by the police, and they were ready with their sticks and Mace,” Ugarte said.

Several rounds of tear gas were released into the crowd, and one concertgoer was Maced pepper-sprayed in the parking lot.

Uniformed officers wearing helmets and gas masks and holding shields would briefly come out from behind the gates to make arrests before retreating.

The concert, which featured performers Kendrick Lamar, Chris Brown and others, went on despite the disturbance in the parking lot.

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