Houston Police Chief Troy Finner visited Travis Scott in his trailer Friday before Astroworld Festival 2021 kicked off, and expressed concerns about the crowd, a source told the New York Times.
As the publication shares, concert organizers and Houston officials were aware of potential dangers at the event after dealing with a tough-to-control crowd at Astroworld two years before, and hired dozens more officers while boosting Live Nation’s private security.
Finner, according to a source, warned Scott—someone he knows personally—of the crowd’s “energy” before the concert, which ended in at least eight deaths and over 300 injuries. A Houston Police Department spokeswoman declined to comment on Finner’s private conversations pending investigations, per the Times.
“The one person who can really call for and get a tactical pause when something goes wrong is that performer,” said Fire Chief Samuel Peña on Sunday. “They have that bully pulpit and they have a responsibility.”
Peña added that “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, who is facing lawsuits alongside Drake and Live Nation over the tragedy, has expressed that he’s been “devastated” since the incident, and that he is going to cooperate with officials and be transparent with fans.
“If you have any information, please just contact your local authorities,” he said on Instagram. “I’m honestly just devastated. I could never imagine anything like this just happening. I’ma do everything I can to keep you guys updated.”
