Rapper Travis Scott will not face criminal charges in Astroworld crowd surge, his lawyer says
CTV
A Texas grand jury has declined to indict rapper Travis Scott in a criminal investigation into a massive crowd surge that killed 10 people at the 2021 Astroworld music festival in Houston, his attorney said Thursday.
A Texas grand jury has declined to indict rap superstar Travis Scott in a criminal investigation of a deadly crowd surge at the 2021 Astroworld festival, where some spectators were packed so tightly they could not move their arms or even breathe, his attorney said Thursday.
Lawyer Kent Schaffer confirmed that the Harris County grand jury had met and decided not to indict his client on any criminal charges stemming from the concert. Schaffer said he was not sure what charges the panel had considered.
"He never encouraged people to do anything that resulted in other people being hurt," Schaffer said, adding that the decision is "a great relief."
The Nov. 5, 2021, crowd surge in Houston killed 10 young festivalgoers who ranged in age from 9 to 27. The official cause of death was compression asphyxia, which an expert likened to being crushed by a car.
Roughly 300 people were injured and treated at the scene, and 25 were taken to hospitals.
Houston police and federal officials have been investigating whether Scott, concert promoter Live Nation and others had sufficient safety measures in place.
Schaffer said he feels sympathy for those who were killed at the festival and their families.
