Houston fire chief Samuel Pena believes rapper Travis Scott “absolutely” should have ended his Friday performance when he saw the deadly stampede break out, saying that “the artist has command of that crowd.”
“In my opinion - and this is my opinion because everything is going to be fleshed out throughout this investigation - the artist, if he notices something that's going on, he can certainly pause that performance, turn on the lights, and say, 'Hey, we're not gonna continue until this thing is resolved,“ he said, speaking to NBC Today on Tuesday.
“We all have a responsibility. Everybody at that event has a responsibility. Starting from the artist on down,“ he added.
“At one point, there was an ambulance that was trying to make its way through the crowd. And he's got, the artist has, command of that crowd,“ Pena said.
At the same time, Pena stressed that Scott couldn’t be blamed yet as it is unknown whether “he was fully aware of what was going on.”
According to media reports, a 56-page operational safety plan, designated for the 2021 Astroworld Festival, hadn’t provided any guidelines in case of a crowd surge, like the one that occurred last week.
Houston Police Chief Troy Finner visited Scott's trailer to express his concerns about the overexcited state of the audience on the eve of the performance, according to the New York Times.
There were about 50,000 people in attendance at the festival on November 5, where a crowd surge started late in the evening during Scott's performance. Eight people, including two teenagers under the age of 18, died. Over two dozen people were hospitalized, including five minors.
Videos of Adele, the late Linkin Park frontman Chester Bennington and even Kurt Kobain have resurfaced online as an example of how a performer should handle a crowd, in comparison to multiple videos of Scott’s performances.
Festival attendees and social media users have accused Scott - for whom it is not the first time his show has ended up in chaos - of ignoring chants to stop the show for at least 30 minutes, as the rapper reportedly continued performing when medics were trying to take away unconscious fans from the scene.
Multiple lawsuits from injured attendees and families of the dead have already been filed following the incident, accusing Scott and another rapper Drake, who was a special guest at the show, of inciting the crowd.
The rapper has pledged to cover all funeral costs for the eight victims who died during his show, as his girlfriend. Kylie Jenner, has claimed they had no idea of any fatalities until the news came.