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Topics: Travis Scott, US News, Celebrity, Music
Anish Vij
Topics: Travis Scott, US News, Celebrity, Music
The lawyer of the nine-year-old victim who was killed at the 2021 Astroworld music festival in Houston has responded to Travis Scott's claims of police sabotage.
Last month, Scott's lawyer Kent Schaffer confirmed that the rapper would face no criminal charges over the crowd surge that killed 10 people, including nine-year-old Ezra Blount.
A total of 10 Astroworld festival-goers, aged from nine to 27, died in the incident on 5 November, 2021.
Roughly 300 people were injured and treated at the scene, and 25 were taken to hospital.
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Schaffer said he feels sympathy for those who were killed at the festival and their families.
“But Travis is not responsible,” Schaffer said. “Bringing criminal charges against him will not ease their pain.”
Scott's team previously accused law enforcement of trying to 'sabotage' his new album Utopia with the release of their investigation.
Blount's attorney Bob Hilliard has since slammed the 'tone-deaf comments about this preventable tragedy'.
The family is said to be suing Scott for the nine-year-old's death.
Hilliard told TMZ: "Of course they would only focus on how the report's release date hurts their album sales instead of the facts contained inside of the report.
"For Mr. Scott to allow his lawyers and spokespeople to make the reckless and untrue statement that just because he was not indicted means he's blame-free is arrogant and insulting to the memory of [nine-year-old] 10-year-old Ezra as well as the other victims of this terrible night."
Responding to the potential lawsuit and the comments made, Schaffer told UNILAD: "The lawyer’s comment was made in the spirit of someone who is frustrated in his attempt to receive a substantial payday.
"The report was made by the police whose job is to investigate criminal activity.
"Their 1,200 page report concludes that there is no criminal liability on the part of Travis or the festival organizers and while we agree we find it somewhat curious that the release was timed to coincide with the album release.
"It is not 'tone deaf' at all."
A 56-page event operations plan for the festival had detailed protocols for various dangerous scenarios including a shooting, bomb or terrorist threats and severe weather.
But it did not include information on what to do in the event of a crowd surge.
The rapper had previously been met with backlash after announcing a $5 million donation for community initiatives in March last year.
Scott shared the news of the Project HEAL initiative in a post on Instagram in which he explained that he has been 'taking the time and space to grieve, reflect and do [his] part to heal [his] community' in the months since the Astroworld Festival tragedy.
He explained he wanted to use his 'resources and platform moving forward towards actionable change' in what he described as a 'lifelong journey' for himself and his family.
However, critics slammed the announcement as a publicity stunt from Scott, who has been sued in a combined lawsuit by hundreds of people who suffered as a result of the event.