Scotty McCreery is making it clear—violence is not tolerated at any of his shows.
On Saturday, Aug. 24, the country music singer stopped his concert mid-show at the Colorado State Fair after witnessing a man allegedly hit a woman in the crowd, according to a video posted on Facebook.
“Right here, that’s a lady you just hit, sir,” McCreery said. “Absolutely not, you just hit the lady.”
Pointing at a person in the audience, the 30-year-old singer—known for winning the tenth season of American Idol—called for police and security before asking, “Is she OK? Get out of here.”
Shocked by the blatant act of violence at his show, McCreery remarked, “On God’s green earth. At a Scotty McCreery show? What are you doing? Y’all let the cop know who hit the lady. That’s absolutely unacceptable.”
Jessica Rosario, the concertgoer who posted the video, confirmed to PEOPLE, “As he started to sing, he noticed a man who allegedly hit a female and stopped the show and had him removed by security.”
Rosario also noted, as McCreery did during the show, that the song he paused—”It Matters to Her”—was dedicated to his wife, Gabi Dugal. Earlier in the clip, he was encouraging the ladies in the crowd to “make some noise” if they were enjoying any particular lines of the love song to see if his fans and Dugal were “on the same page.”
“We got ‘em? We good down there?” he asked security before concluding, “Whoever you are, that’s the definition of a coward, hitting a lady. Get the heck out of here.” He then checked in with the crowd before resuming his set.
Officials with the Colorado State Fair confirmed that the assault happened at McCreery’s concert and asked anyone with video to share the footage with their security team.
“Colorado State Fair security assisted with crowd control. This incident is still under investigation, and we cannot comment further,” said Olga Robak, director of communications with The Colorado Department of Agriculture, in a statement.
If you are experiencing domestic violence, call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-7233, or go to thehotline.org. All calls are toll-free and confidential. The hotline is available 24/7 in more than 170 languages.
