A Texas grand jury has declined to indict rapper Travis Scott on criminal charges stemming from the 2021 Astroworld crowd surge in Houston that injured thousands and resulted in the death of 10 fans.
Since the festival, Scott has faced hundreds of civil claims, as has entertainment company Live Nation, alleging the festival ignored best practices for security and crowd control.
The victims, including a 9-year-old boy, died of compressive asphyxiation, and 4,900 others reported injuries from the crush of the crowd or the chaos that followed.
Speaking at a news conference Thursday, Kim Ogg, the Harris County district attorney, called the event an “absolutely disastrous, horrific event” and added that after a 19-month review of the case, the grand jury determined there was not enough evidence to find probable cause that Scott or others had acted criminally.
“Our investigators and prosecutors gave it everything they had to ensure the grand jury could reach the truth of the matter,” Ogg said.
Investigators who reviewed the case presented reporters with heartbreaking footage and photographs, and a timeline of the events leading up to the slow-moving crowd crush.
Scott, as well as Live Nation, which he partnered with to host the event, has faced fierce criticism for not stopping the concert sooner. Viral videos from the night of the concert showed people climbing onto camera platforms to escape the crush and beg for help. Investigators on Thursday said that after reviewing evidence, they found that Scott could not have been aware of what was happening in the crowd.
“I want peace for those families, whether criminal charges, whether civil liability and money damages, whether administrative help brings those families justice. I just hope they achieve some kind of resolution they can move forward with,” Ogg said, noting that the grand jury’s decision does not affect civil cases faces Scott.
Scott has privately settled some of the lawsuits resulting from the festival, and other claims have been consolidated into one massive suit that remains ongoing.
Scott previously said in a statement that he was “distraught” by what happened at the festival. But on Thursday, his attorney told Reuters that the musician had not violated any laws.
“Nothing Travis did or failed to do fits within the Texas criminal code,” attorney Kent Schaffer told Reuters.