Kendrick Lamar, Chris Brown, Trey Songz and Big Sean were all scheduled
to play at the event, billed as "the hottest hip hop event of the year."robbinews.blogspot.com
New Jersey State Police guarding the gates outside of the Hot 97 Summer Jam 2015
at MetLife Stadium had bottles thrown at them by people in the crowd
who were trying to get inside -- some without tickets -- and they later
used tear gas to try to disperse them, according to officials.
Kendrick Lamar, Chris Brown, Trey Songz and Big Sean were all scheduled to play at the event, billed as "the hottest hip hop event of the year."
State
police said crowds of people tried to "illegally" force their way into
the sold-out concert Sunday night and became upset when the gates were
closed and blocked off by police in riot gear.
Police
said crowds began climbing over fences and forcing their way through
security personnel. The gates to the stadium were shut and troopers were
called in to help maintain order, police said.
An
armored state police vehicle began blasting a piercing loud noise to
try to disperse the crowd and police later deployed tear gas.
A state police spokesman said some arrests were made, but the number of arrests wasn't immediately known.
Photos
and video on Twitter and Instagram showed large crowds, trash-strewn
streets and barricades overturned in the stadium's parking lot.
Images also showed police in riot gear using large military-style vehicles to try to disperse the crowds.
Concertgoers
revealed to NBC 4 New York, that people who legally bought tickets that
cost hundreds of dollars were still turned away and told to leave.
Emmis New York, which owns the radio station Hot 97, said they'll refund
tickets for those people.
"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," the radio station said in a statement.
It wasn't immediately clear if there were any injuries.
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