In the hours leading up to Friday’s fatal Astroworld concert, Houston Police Chief Troy Finner was nervous.
The last time local rapper Travis Scott had hosted the festival, in 2019, three people had been trampled. Extra precautions had been put in place for this year’s show, including ramped-up security, but still, Finner was nervous.
So much so that he visited the 30-year-old in his trailer Friday afternoon to warn him about the dangers of his frenetic crowd, The New York Times reported late Sunday.
Hours later, eight people, including two teenagers, were dead.
Investigators are still piecing together exactly what happened before and during the show that caused the mad rush, but many have blamed Scott himself, who was previously charged in 2015 and 2017 for causing riots during his concerts.
“The one person who can really call for and get a tactical pause when something goes wrong is that performer. They have that bully pulpit and they have a responsibility,” Fire Chief Samuel Peña told The Times. “If somebody would have said, ‘Hey, shut this thing down and turn on the lights until this thing gets corrected’ — and that coming from the person with the mic — I think could have been very helpful.”
Scott paused his show several times as the crowd grew rowdier Friday, but continued the performance each time, even as an ambulance tried to make its way through the madness.
“Any time I can make out anything that’s going on, I’d stop the show and help them get the help they need, you know?” he said in an Instagram video Saturday night. “I could never imagine this situation.”
———
