US lawyers have begun to mount their cases against Travis Scott after the recent stampede tragedy that claimed eight lives.
US lawyers have begun to mount their cases against Astroworld and Travis Scott after the recent crowd crush tragedy that claimed the lives of eight festivalgoers.
Police confirmed two teenagers were among the victims who died following the stampede at the Houston festival on Friday night local time.
Confronting footage flooded social media as the chaos unfolded, showing fans at the 50,000-strong event being treated by paramedics at the scene. Fans “began to compress” towards the front of the stage while Scott was performing, causing chaos and mass injuries.
A 10-year-old was also among the hundreds injured and is said to be in a critical condition in hospital.
Speaking on Channel 10’s The Project, lawyer Thomas J Henry – who is representing 75 of the injured victims – slammed the acclaimed rapper and festival security for mishandling the event.
He said a number of his clients experienced both physical and psychological harm after emerging from the terrifying event.
“The people I represent range from teenagers to individuals in their 40s,” he said. “We have a wide spectrum of men and women and people that are not adults. These people are psychologically injured and physically injured, people have broken bones and internal injuries.”
When questioned over whether crowd control should be the performer’s responsibility, Mr Henry was adamant the artist had a role to play in managing the mass of people in front of them.
“They’re there to entertain and they have a duty and responsibility to make sure the people that come to see them are safe and they are receiving compensation for that and they along with the promoters are responsible. There are many people responsible for that,” he said, referring to the two previous incidents where Scott pleaded guilty to enticing crowds.
“Let‘s talk about Travis Scott. He is a criminal that’s been convicted after enticing crowds. He has been arrested for doing it,” Mr Henry said.
“He has a responsibility. The law implies and states you can’t do those kinds of things. They have a responsibility and they have a responsibility to shut down a concert when people are being injured or killed.”
Mr Henry took organisers of the giant event to task, calling for better planning and preparation when dealing with crowds the size of small cities. He called on festivals to employ a “better quality of performer” to ensure concerts are stopped when a dangerous event occurs.
“These are matters that could be prevented through planning and preparation,” he said.
“I believe there wasn‘t sufficient barriers and I believe they could have separated the crowd in a safer manner so this wouldn’t happen.
“There are many performers on stage that said, ‘I’m stopping the concert now’. That’s happened. Performers have done that.
“There needs to be a better quality of performer getting up there and having the courage to say, ‘I’m stopping this now’.”
Lawyer Rick Ramos, who is also representing victims of the tragedy, held a press conference on Tuesday announcing a multimillion-dollar lawsuit on behalf of at least ten victims.
Among his clients are the family of one of the eight people who died after the crowd surged during Scott’s performance, resulting in people getting crushed and trampled.
Although Scott has said in statements that followed the deadly incident that he was unaware of the extent of the situation from his vantage point on stage, the Houston-based lawyer rejected those sentiments.
Mr Ramos also cited the fact the festival continued for 37 minutes after the tragedy.
“Mr. Scott was able to finish his set. This concert did not stop,” he said.
“He stopped for a second to just witness an ambulance come down, which put him on notice. Yet he continued on. Continued on to the last song knowing that these kids were out there dropping like flies, dead bodies, kids passing out, kids that could not be resuscitated.”
“Essentially, he enticed this crowd and turned it into an absolute mob, while they were hurting one another. He decided to then go ahead and pour gasoline onto this show after seeing dead bodies right in front of him.”
Mr Ramos also noted that he believes Scott and the minds behind the Astroworld Festival should have been more aware that something like this could happen given that a similar event took place in 2019, the last time the festival was allowed to happen due to the coronavirus.
Originally published as Travis Scott: US lawyers mount case against Astroworld tragedy
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