A suicidal man ranting about IRS corruption slit his wrists outside the Today show studios Thursday morning. The man, who has not been identified, was subdued by police and rushed to a nearby hospital. The severity of his injuries remains unclear.
The incident occurred at 7:50 a.m. as Today hosts Matt Lauer and Savannah Guthrie prepared to begin their 8 o'clock half hour segment in Rockefeller Plaza. Bystanders say the man appeared emotionally unstable as he tried to hand out documents to people nearby while ranting about how the IRS “ruined his life.” When bystanders refused to take his papers, the man threw them in the air and took out a pocket knife. “I’m going to cut myself!” he screamed.
The man, who is believed to be in his 50s, then began to cut his wrists. Security guards and police officers subdued the man with pepper spray and helped strap him into a gurney for transport to St. Luke’s Hospital.
Lauer addressed the incident on air. "Opening the 8 o'clock half hour inside the studio today because there was an incident out on the plaza. A short time ago, a man out there attempted to harm himself with a knife. He did manage to cut himself,” he explained.
"He was controlled by our security team out there," Lauer continued. "However, he did harm himself in some way. And so he's now being attended to by medical personnel."
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