NJ.com – by A.J. Perez EAST RUTHERFORD — A 9/11 truther may have conned his way into MetLife Stadiumand then a Super Bowl postgame news conference, but a New Jersey State Police spokesman told NJ.com the agency did its job.
“He did go through the same screenings,” New Jersey State Police Capt. Stephen Jones said. “Those included pat downs, a magnetometer (metal detector) and K-9 screenings.”
Matthew Mills, a 30-year-old independent journalist from Brooklyn, told NJ.com on Monday that he indeed was subjected to the same security steps a fan or media member would go through — even if nobody spotted his bogus credential.
“I don’t feel the security was all that it was hyped up to be,” Mills said. “I was put through the screening process, so it’s not like I could have gotten a weapon in or anything.”
Jones said the fact Mills was able to gain access to the stadium and then the postgame interview area falls on private security guards. The primary private security provider for Super Bowl XLVIII was Security, Athletic Facilities & Events (SAFE) Management — and this wasn’t the firm’s first major gig.
The company’s website claims the firm was hired by the NFL “for total guest services, event security, and crowd management staffing services” for the first time at Super Bowl XL in Detroit eight years ago.
SAFE has provided the same services ever since and is slated to provide security for next year’s Super Bowl in Arizona. SAFE also provides security for some NFL stadiums, including the Baltimore Ravens’ home, M&T Bank Stadium.
Messages left with SAFE were not immediately returned.
As to whether SAFE’s contract is being reassessed, the NFL wouldn’t say.
“We do not comment on details of our security planning,” NFL spokesman Brian McCarthy told NJ.com.
There were nearly 3,000 private security guards hired to work the game, joining 700 state troopers along with officers from other agencies who provided support.
None of that stopped Mills, who used a credential from an old music festival to get into MetLife Stadium, despite heavy security. As he told NJ.com, his journey inside MetLife began when he hopped onto an employee shuttle at Secaucus Junction.
After the game, he made his way into the postgame interview area, where a couple of the private guards in red jackets were supposed to check each credential. (The FBI conducts background checks for any media member who applies for a credential.) Mills then interrupted Super Bowl MVP Malcolm Smith’s chat with reporters and said 9/11 was “perpetrated by people in our own government.”
That’s when security officials finally noticed Mills. He was arrested for trespassing and released a short time later.
Mills said he was able to watch most of the game from the upper concourse area of MetLife. He added that he conducted several interviews with fans, asking attendees about the symbolism of the halftime show and the Illuminati, the term given to a secret society that some conspiracy theorists believe control world governments and events.
“I don’t feel the security was all that it was hyped up to be,” Mills said. “I was put through the screening process, so it’s not like I could have gotten a weapon in or anything.” On the contrary. Perhaps the most powerful weapon of all because it can help the blind masses to see and realize they should all be armed and address their oppressor.