Kpop Fans ‘Bomb’ NJ Security

A March 23 concert by the seven-member Korean boy band BTS in New Jersey attracted more than the usual amount of scrutiny from local constabulary owing to a peculiar attribute of the group’s fans.   

AP Photo / Mike Derer – Prudential Center

A fixture of the group’s merchandise is a glow stick called an “army bomb,” according to the fan site All Kpop.

When the Newark police department heard the name they wanted to investigate, and sent several officers as well as the Essex County Bomb Disposal Unit to the concert.

The appearance by police, along with a dog, at the Prudential Center was unannounced and unexpected. The officers inspected the sticks, and it took them 10 minutes to decide they were safe and that the venue was “free of any explosives.”

The ticketholders were also reportedly “subjected to an intensive security check as they lined up” to enter the venue. It was BTS’s first concert appearance in the U.S.

They will also travel to Chicago and Los Angeles before embarking on a tour of Asia.