Taser snuck into Jets v. Cowboys game
Cowboys fan uses Taser gun on Jets crowd at MetLife Stadium despite security on 9/11 anniversary
BY Gary Myers, Frank Digiacomo AND Bill Hutchinson
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITERS
A diehard Cowboys fan wildly fired a stun gun in a crowd at MetLife Stadium in the Meadowlands injuring three people, including a Marine, cops said Monday.
Leroy McKelvey, 59, of Moncks Corner, S.C., used a Taser gun on Jets fans during an upper-deck brawl at halftime Sunday night, said Sgt. Julian Castellanos of the New Jersey State Police.
McKelvey is the father of Power 105.1 deejay Charlamagne Tha God, co-host of “The Breakfast Club.”
Three men suffered minor injuries in the fracas at the nationally televised football game.
The melee erupted after a Marine became annoyed at McKelvey and his friends for not taking their hats off or standing during the National Anthem and speaking loudly during “Taps” and “Amazing Grace.”
Witnesses told cops McKelvey got into a fight with the Marine, who was sitting at the end of his row in section 324 and refused to let him out to go to the restroom at halftime.
McKelvey pulled a stun gun from his pocket and fired, hitting the unidentified Marine in the neck and sending him tumbling down six rows, witnesses told cops.
The suspect’s son said that his dad is a devout Jehovah’s Witness and doesn’t believe in standing for the Pledge of Allegiance or National Anthem.
“He’s not a violent guy at all. He just likes to have fun,” Charlamagne Tha God told the Daily News. “I would hope that an altercation didn’t happen because of him not standing for the National Anthem.”
It was not immediately clear how McKelvey snuck a Taser into MetLife Stadium, where there was tight security because of the 10th anniversary of 9/11 and because former President George W. Bush was at the game.
McKelvey’s son blamed Jets coach Rex Ryan for creating a hostile environment at the game by saying in earlier press conferences that “it’s probably not recommended that you wear Cowboys stuff” to MetLife Stadium.
“He shouldn’t have had a taser on him. But I really feel he took a risk because he felt threatened,” said Charlamagne Tha God, explaining his father was wearing a Cowboys hat and jersey and sports tattoos of Cowboy stars on his shoulder and right forearm.
He said his dad suffered a broken nose in the fight.
“He got jumped by Jets fans when the Cowboys were leading by two touchdowns, so he was just defending himself,” the son said.
The Jets mounted a second-half comeback to win the season opener 27-24.
McKelvey was charged with felony aggravated assault, felony possession of a stun gun and illegal possession of a weapon.
His son posted the $22,500 bail and was waiting Monday night for his father to be released from Bergen County Jail.