Police: 'Small Group' Blamed For Summer Jam Concert Riot

The state police and the promoters of the Summer Jam concert at MetLife Stadium said a small group of people was to blame for the melee that promoted entrances to close and left some ticket-holders out of the event.

Ten state troopers were injured and 61 people arrested after a small group of people who did not have tickets tried to “storm the gates” for a melee that led to the arrests and injuries, NorthJersey.com reported.

“A small group of highly disruptive people ruined this concert for many others,” Colonel Rick Fuentes, state police superintendent previously said. “They created a danger to our ticket holders, stadium employees, and troopers on the scene.”

Concert-goers with tickets who were shut out of the event still paid $30 to enter the parking lot and that other people paid for parking too, despite the fact that the admission gates were closed.

Concertgoers threw bottles and trash at police and security personnel. State troopers wore helmets and held shields to protect themselves while using pepper spray, noise generators, and tear gas to remove people from the area outside the main gate.

Eight state troopers suffered minor injuries in a confrontation that began after the concert was sold out and some people tried to climb fences and push their way past security, the website.

Some people were charged with assault, possession of a weapon, trespassing, and soliciting without permit; “The majority of the charges” filed were for disorderly behavior, police said.

Fifty-one people were arrested at last year’s Summer Jam concert. More state troopers were assigned to this year’s concert as a result of what happened last year.