No charges have been filed over two years after ten people were crushed to death during the disastrous 2021 Astroworld festival, despite the fact that some people, including event personnel, had safety concerns. Families of Astroworld victims still yearn for the early loss of their loved ones.
According to a nearly 1,300-page report published by Houston police on the inquiry into the disaster on Friday, contract worker Reece Wheeler told authorities that he noticed a crush of people and warned an event organizer that people could die, shortly before artist Travis Scott stepped onstage.
According to the article, Scott stated that he saw one individual near the stage receiving medical assistance, but that the audience seemed to enjoy the show overall. He claimed he saw no signs of significant concerns and did not hear anyone advise him to stop the performance.
Drake, who also performed, told police that it was impossible to see what was going on in the crowd from the stage and that he did not hear anyone request for the event to be stopped.
Despite the fact that no charges have been brought, more than 500 lawsuits have been filed on behalf of Astroworld victims and other injured individuals, many of which have been filed against event producer Live Nation and Scott. Some of those lawsuits were eventually settled.
The victims ranged in age from 9 to 27, and all 10 died as a result of compressive asphyxia, according to medical examiners.
NO CHARGES WERE BROUGHT ON BEHALF OF ASTROWORLD VICTIMS
A Texas grand jury declined to indict six persons for the Astroworld victims’ case, including Scott, in June. Prosecutors then stated that the circumstances of the killings limited the accusations they could bring, ruling out prospective charges such as murder, manslaughter, and criminally negligent homicide.
The sheer number of people involved in putting on the event, its vast magnitude, and the high bar for showing criminal carelessness or recklessness, according to Sandra Guerra Thompson, a criminal law professor at the University of Houston Law Center., are hurdles for prosecutors in cases like this.
“It goes back to, who knows what’s going on, is that being communicated?” she explained. “Were they being told that people have died, and they still wanted the concert to go on? Or, were they being told that ‘Hey, some people are getting hurt, which might not be that unusual at an event like that?”
Following the grand jury’s refusal to issue indictments for the Astroworld victims, Assistant Harris County District Attorney Alycia Harvey stated that prosecutors were left with only possible counts of harming a child in connection with the deaths of the two youngest concertgoers, ages 9 and 14.
Kent Schaffer, Scott’s lawyer, has stated that the artist was not to blame for the Astroworld victims and other damages.
TRAVIS SCOTT’S RESPONSE TO WHAT HAPPENED THAT LED THE DEATHS OF ASTROWORLD VICTIMS
Scott previously stated that he was oblivious to the deaths of the Astroworld victims until after the show aired. He has now launched Project HEAL, a $5 million project that includes money for an effort to solve festival and large-scale event safety problems.
According to the police report, Scott told detectives that about the time Drake entered the stage, he was told to end the show after the performance, but no one informed him of an emergency.
NEW SAFETY PRACTICES
Following the disaster that causes the deaths of Astroworld victims, Texas Governor Greg Abbott appointed a task committee to investigate concert safety and recommend crowd control and security measures for large crowds.
People without tickets entered the outdoor festival area hours before the shows began, overwhelming employees and causing a variety of injuries, according to the task force in April 2022. It also noted that the process for getting permits for large gatherings varies across the state.
The task force suggested establishing a command center with the authority to pause or cancel a show in the event of a safety concern.