Travis Scott Has Long History of Encouraging Reckless Behavior at His Concerts

Alex Young
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The post Travis Scott Has Long History of Encouraging Reckless Behavior at His Concerts appeared first on Consequence.

Investigators are still determining the cause of the stampede at Astroworld Festival that left eight people dead and hundreds of others injured. However, even before Friday night’s tragedy, Travis Scott had a long history of reckless behavior when it came to crowd control and safety.

In August 2015, Scott was charged with disorderly conduct after police said he urged fans to climb over barricades at Chicago’s Lollapalooza and led a chant of “We want rage.” The scene became so chaotic that officers attempted to detain Scott during his performance and he briefly fled the scene. Scott pleaded guilty to reckless conduct charges and was ordered under court supervision.

Scott faced similar charges in May 2017 after encouraging fans to join him on stage during a concert in Fayetteville, Arkansas. Several people, including a police officer and a security guard, were injured in the rush to the stage, and Scott later pleaded guilty to disorderly conduct.

Also in 2017, a 23-year-old man named Kyle Green was seriously injured during Scott’s concert at Terminal 5 in New York City. Green said the was pushed off a balcony after the rapper encouraged his fans to jump. He suffered a fractured vertebrae that left him partially paralyzed, but before being treated for his injuries, he was taken to the front of the stage where Scott marveled at his “fearlessness.” Months after the incident, Green filed a lawsuit against Scott.

Over the years, Scott has also glorified images and videos of his fans crashing security gates in order to gain access into his concerts. At least one of those posts — a Tweet from May 2021 in which he wrote, “We still sneaking the wild ones in. !!!!” — was deleted sometime in the last few hours.

Another Instagram post from November 2019 features video of fans jumping over barricades. “DA YOUTH DEM CONTROL THE FREQUENCY,” Scott wrote in an accompanying caption. “EVERYONE HAVE FUN. RAGERS SET TONE WHEN I COME OUT TONIGHT. BE SAFE RAGE HARD. AHHHHHHHHHHH”

Similar scenes of fans unlawfully rushing through security gates occurred at Astroworld earlier on Friday. Hundreds of people appeared to gain access into the festival before police and security personnel were able to gain control of the situation.

Some individuals who were present for Scott’s Astroworld performance recounted a dangerous scene in the crowd hours before he even took the stage. “We stood there for two hours, as did every other person. Every gap was filled, where your feet were place was where they stayed,” wrote one attendee on Instagram. Once the concert began, “We began to scream to help. We could see security, just a few people away, in the walkway in the middle. It got tighter. Impossible to breath, as our lungs were compressed between the bodies of those surrounding us. More people began screaming for help, but we were not heard. There was nowhere to go.”

It’s unclear how aware Scott was of the situation during his performance. In one video, he appears to notice an unconscious fan being carried out by pandemics, but continues to sing. However, at another point, Scott briefly stopped the show so that another unconscious fan could receive medical attention.

In another video, Scott notes the presence of an ambulance in the crowd. But rather than ask the crowd to clear out of the way, Scott said, “I want to see some ragers.” Some fans were later seen jumping on top of the ambulance.

In a statement released Saturday, Scott said he was “absolutely devastated by what took pace last night. My prayers go out to the families and all of those impacted by what happened at Astroworld Festival.” He added, “Houston PD has my total support as they continue to look into the tragic loss of life. I am committed to working together with  the Houston community to heal and support the families in need.”

Consequence has reached out to Scott’s representatives, as well as the organizers of Astroworld for additional comment.

Travis Scott Has Long History of Encouraging Reckless Behavior at His Concerts
Alex Young

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