Travis Scott and many Astroworld Festival organizers and staff will not face criminal charges in connection with the crowd surge that killed 10 festivalgoers nearly a year and a half ago, a Houston Grand Jury concluded on June 29.
The Grand Jury issued six no-bills, acquitting the Houston-based rapper, festival manager Brent Silberstein, Live Nation’s John Junell, security planners Seyth and Shawn Boardman, and Emily Ockenden, who worked for event production company BWG until last year, the Rolling Stone reported.
A press conference by Houston officials, including Harris County District Attorney Kim Ogg, was held in regards to announcing Scott is not going to be held accountable for his Astroworld being overcrowded.
“Our job is narrow. It’s to determine if this tragedy, this absolute disastrous, horrific event, involved criminal activity by anyone at the top to the bottom, or in between,” Ogg said.
Ogg outlined the grand jury procedure, which has to present probable cause – the determination of whether there is enough evidence to support the filing of criminal charges against Scott and company, for example, any level of suspicion or belief that a crime has been committed and that the persons being charged are responsible for it – of criminal conduct to issue charges.
The grand jury had already failed to reach the “beyond a reasonable doubt” threshold required for a conviction.
Scott’s legal team is pleased.
“My client Travis Scott will not be charged with criminal charges or any wrongdoing for his involvement with AstroWorld festival. 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,” Kent Schaffer, Scott’s attorney, said in a statement.
In addition to the 10 deaths, two of whom were under the age of 15 years old, hundreds of festival-goers were injured after crowds were pushed against the stage near the start of Scott’s headline act on November 5, 2021.
Attendees reported the feeling of being squeezed and unable to breathe during the event, with several being crushed in the thick of the commotion. Scott’s performance was briefly halted before restarting, and he ended the act after over an hour.
