Travis Scott Won't Be Criminally Charged In Astroworld Deaths

Travis Scott will not be criminally charged for the 2021 Astroworld Festival deaths.

According to NBC News, a Texas grand jury has ruled that the rapper was not responsible for the crowd stampede that killed ten people at his Houston festival. District Attorney Kim Ogg spoke about the ruling during a news conference on Thursday (June 29). 

“It is tragic that ten innocent people were killed while trying to enjoy an evening of music and entertainment, something many of us do routinely and without a second thought to our safety. But a tragedy isn’t always a crime, and not every death is a homicide,” Ogg said in a statement. “This grand jury’s determination has no impact on the many civil lawsuits pending.”

The entertainer’s attorney, Kent Schaffer, also spoke about his client’s actions during the event. Schaffer expressed that the H-Town artist has been inaccurately portrayed in the media, adding that Scott stopped the show three times. He also claimed that Scott was unaware of the tragedy that took place. 

“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,” stated Schaffer. “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.”

The outlet reports that the victims’ families were “disappointed” with the court ruling. Robert Hilliard, the attorney for Ezra Blount’s family, offered a statement speaking out against the decision while the family “awaits their day in court.”

“There is clear culpability and gross negligent conduct committed by these various civil defendants directly resulting in deaths and serious injury,” Hilliard stated. “Though disappointed the grand jury declined to find this conduct was criminal, Ezra Blount’s family will continue and wait for their day in court. A Harris County jury, once given an opportunity to see the damning evidence leading up to causing this tragedy, may very well return a record Texas verdict against these defendants.”

Ten people were reportedly killed during the November 2021 festival at Houston’s NRG Park. The youngest of the fatalities was Ezra Blount, 9, who died after a crowd of 50,000 began rushing the stage. All victims died from compression asphyxia. 

Shortly after the tragedy, Travis sat down with Charlamagne Tha God to speak about the unfortunate loss. “At the end of the day, these fans are like family, so you feel like you just lost something,” he said in the video. “You do these shows, honestly, for people to have the best experience.”

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