A Texas grand jury determined rapper Travis Scott was not criminally responsible for the crowd crush that left 10 people dead and thousands more injured during his 2021 Astroworld music festival, authorities announced Thursday.
The Harris County grand jury weighed and declined criminal charges against Scott and five others related to fans’ deaths, District Attorney Kim Ogg said at an afternoon news conference.
Ten people were killed at the Nov. 5, 2021, tragedy at Houston’s NRG Park, including 9-year-old Ezra Blount, when a crowd of about 50,000 attendees began pushing toward the stage. The other victims ranged in age from 14 to 27. They all died from compression asphyxia.
Nearly 2,400 people required medical treatment following the deadly crowd surge.
Scott’s attorney Kent Schaffer said that the rapper and his action have been inaccurately portrayed, adding that Scott stopped the show three times and was unaware of the events as they unfolded.
“Today’s decision by the Harris County District Attorney confirms what we have known all along — that Travis Scott is not responsible for the AstroWorld tragedy,” Schaffer said in a statement after the decision. “This is consistent with investigative reporting by numerous media outlets and federal and state government reports that have squarely placed the onus for event safety crises on organizers, operators and contractors — not performers.”
After the festival, which Scott hosted, hesaid in a video that he could not have imagined the “severity of the situation” at the Houston concert.
“I’m honestly just devastated,” Scott said on Instagram.
He later spoke to radio host Charlamagne Tha God, saying that he had initially realized the extentof the trouble at the festival.
“At the end of the day, these fans are like family so you feel like you just lost something. You do these shows, honestly, for people to have the best experience,” he told the host.
Hundreds of lawsuits have been filed against Scott and the concert’s organizer, Live Nation, accusing them of negligence. Scott issued a “general denial” of the claims in 2021 and asked for multiple suits to be dismissed.
Source: | This article originally belongs to Nbcnews.com
