Travis Scott performs at Day 1 of the Astroworld Music Festival at NRG Park on Friday, Nov. 5, 2021, in Houston. Concertgoers have described the packed crowd growing dangerous even before headliner Travis Scott appeared on stage, and seeing people collaps
Amy Harris/Invision/APMore than two months after the Astroworld crowd-control disaster claimed the lives of 10 people, the Houston Police Department on Friday asked attendees to upload their photos and video to a new dedicated website designed by the FBI.
“To ensure that we have captured all possible evidence for a complete investigation, we have partnered with the Federal Bureau of Investigation for additional technical assistance,” Houston Police said in a statement, adding that detectives previously reviewed “countless hours” of video, just not through such a sophisticated repository.
“I think this took far too long. They should have hit the gas immediately upon starting the investigation,” Dr. Darrin Porcher, a former NYPD lieutenant and adjunct professor at Pace University’s School of Criminal Justice, says. Porcher adds that the two-month delay suggests “the chain of command kind of fell asleep at the wheel.”
Porcher, who’s serving as an expert to Hilliard Martinez Gonzalez LLP, a plaintiffs’ law firm already representing more than 700 Astroworld attendees, says the FBI has a large field office covering the Houston area with resources that would be well-known to local police.
“For the life of me, I can’t understand why this wasn’t done immediately, because they clearly understood the police department only has so many people. You’re conducting an investigation with 50,000 people at one location. It’s clear, and it’s apparent, that the Houston Police Department didn’t have the ability to get this done, and there’s nothing wrong with that,” Porcher said. “They didn’t drive it as quickly as they should have.”
The new FBI website asks concertgoers to upload a maximum of four files and share their name and contact information.
Asked if the two-month delay might mean valuable images and video might already be deleted and gone forever, lawyer Alex Hilliard said he didn’t think so.
“The plaintiff lawyers have been diligently obtaining all of this information, so to the extent that prosecutors need it and are asking for it, it’s already within organized, available portals that exits in a lot of the firms,” Hilliard tells Rolling Stone. “In the next couple of weeks, there will be a lot of information provided to prosecutors to establish that there was absolute criminal activity which occurred in this case.”
The terrifying Astroworld crowd crush killed eight people on Nov. 5, the first night of Travis Scott’s Astroworld Festival at NRG Park in Houston. Two more people, including 9-year-old Ezra Blount, later died from their injuries.
The panoply of lawsuits filed over the tragedy name concert promoter Live Nation, Scott and various concert security vendors among the lead defendants.
Live Nation and Scott have denied any wrongdoing. In a video message posted on Instagram, Scott, whose legal name is Jacques Webster, said he “could just never imagine the severity of the situation.” His partner Kylie Jenner, mother of his daughter Stormi, also released a statement saying she and Scott were “broken and devastated.”
Zara Larsson has indicated that she may have cancelled her December 3 appearance at the Formula One Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. The singer initially confirmed that she would not attend, before removing the comment and sharing a more detailed explanation of why the performance no longer feels right for her.
The Swedish star was scheduled to take the stage at Etihad Live on Yas Island during the Yasalam After-Race Concerts. Zara and Lewis Capaldi were due to launch the weekend’s entertainment. However, supporters encouraged her to reconsider the booking because of concerns surrounding the United Arab Emirates’ reported connections to Sudan’s Rapid Support Forces, a paramilitary organisation accused of committing atrocities during the nation’s civil conflict.
A fan commented: “Please read about what UAE is doing to Sudan then cancel your Abu Dhabi show!” Zara responded: “I will not be going to Abu Dhabi.” Fans later realised that both comments had been removed.
She then shared that she had been considering what it means for her, as an artist, to perform in particular countries.
The Midnight Sun singer explained: “I think about that a lot in my life as an artist… I wanna perform and spread joy and music for people in every country, because no single person is their government.
“I’ve met so many wonderful people from every corner of the world and I know this to be true in my heart. I love people, and I love my fans soooo much.”
Zara acknowledged that her original comment “maybe came off as an impulsive response,” but explained that she had given the booking serious thought. She now believes withdrawing is the decision that “aligns with me the most right now, for many different personal reasons beyond politics.”
She continued: “Maybe I’ll delete both comments and do a better statement soon. I hope to sing with you in the beautiful future!”
