Police Clash With Fans at Hot 97 Summer Jam
This year's Summer Jam wasn't short on surprises.
Fabolous reunited Fat Joe and Remy Ma. He brought out Ma$e, Raekwon, Redman and Method Man, The LOX, Mobb Deep and Lil Kim (it was a Jam within the Jam). Chris Brown took the stage with G-Unit and French Montana. ScHoolboy Q showed up with Kendrick Lamar. Meek Mill enthralled the audience with an appearance from his bae, Nicki Minaj, a sweet way to cap off their weekend, which opened with him dropping in on her headlining X Games performance.
And police in riot gear greeted the hundreds of fans who weren't able to get in.
According to CBS2, witnesses say some ticketholders were on line for more than three hours. There were some who were attempting to jump the gate (which, apparently doesn't go as smoothly as jumping a turnstyle back in the day). Glass bottles were thrown at cops.
An armored tank blasted a whistle to disperse the crowd.
“Barbaric," one attendee said. "The way they treat our people is like animals. If there was another concert this would’ve never happened."
Arrests were made, the police confirmed.
Hot 97 released a statement Monday morning addressing the incident.
"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. For ticket holders whose tickets were not scanned, refunds will be offered at the point of purchase."
Ebro Darden, host of Ebro in the Morning, blasted the bad apples that stirred all the trouble.
“The people that made it go sideways, you’re an idiot,” Ebro said. “Throwing bottles at the state troopers, we don’t like that. You’re trying to ruin it for everybody. Shame on you.”
Despite the high drama outside the venue, last night's concert went off without any major hitches on stage.
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(Photo: North Jersey /Landov)
