TRENTON, New Jersey (AP)—Radio hosts at the New York station that sponsors the country’s largest one-day hip-hop music festival took to the airwaves to scold concertgoers who threw bottles and rushed the gates, prompting police to fire tear gas into the crowd and arrest 61 people. But one DJ said the melee should not overshadow an event that’s been going on for 23 years.
While tens of thousands of fans listened to some of the biggest names in hip-hop inside MetLife Stadium Sunday night, hundreds trying to get in clashed with police in riot gear after the gates were closed, leaving 10 troopers hurt.
The melee at the Hot 97 Summer Jam in East Rutherford, New Jersey, drew a sharp rebuke Monday from hosts at WQHT-FM, but it also prompted questions from fans who had tickets but were ordered to leave.
“You cannot throw bottles at police,” Laura Stylez, of the Hot 97 morning show, said on air Monday. “What is wrong with you?”
New Jersey State Police in riot gear blocked gates outside the arena after officials said people tried to push their way inside or jump the fence. An armored state police vehicle later began blasting a loud, piercing noise to try to disperse the crowd, and then officers fired tear gas canisters into the crowd.
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