Travis Scott's lawyer says he had 'no idea' what was going on as fans were crushed because ambulances looked like golf carts and he couldn't 'hear or see anything' while on stage
Travis Scott's lawyer said on Friday the rapper was completely unaware of the disaster unfolding at his Houston concert where nine people were crushed in the crowd last Friday because the ambulances called to help them looked to him like golf carts, he was blinded by flashing lights and couldn't hear because of his earpiece.
The rapper has been holed up in his Texas mansion since the tragedy last week that led to nine fans' deaths. Some of the families have already filed lawsuits against him and hundreds more who were at the concert but didn't die are also preparing to take legal action.
There are now major questions over what Scott knew and when, and whether security and police at the Astroworld event could have done anything to stop the deaths and injuries.
It is not the first time the 30-year-old rapper has been accused of inciting a riot; in 2017, he was arrested for inciting a riot in Arkansas, and he was also arrested in 2015 for disorderly conduct at Lollapalooza.
Travis Scott is shown wrapped in an Hermes blanket at his Houston mansion on Thursday. The rapper has been holed up in his home since the concert last Friday which killed nine of his dans
Scott's attorney Ed McPherson said on Friday morning: 'This obviously was a systemic breakdown that we really need to get to the bottom of before he start pointing fingers at anyone.'
Scott's attorney Ed McPherson told Good Morning America on Friday he had no idea what was happening in the crowd
Houston Police Department declared a mass casualty situation at 9.40pm but Scott continued playing for another 40 minutes.
McPherson said on Friday that Scott and his team didn't get the message, and that cops at the event seemed unaware of it too.
'We've seen footage of police just walking about and not looking like it was a mass casualty event. Clearly, the important thing is that never got to Travis, never got to Travis' crew. He is up there trying to perform. He does not have any ability to know what's going on down below. Certainly on a mass level.
'Travis didn't really understand the full effect of everything until the next morning.
'Truly, he did not know what was going on.
'He's on a riser at one point, he sees one boy down and asks security to stop the show.
'You say an ambulance but it looked more like a golf cart with lights, he wasn't sure what that was but he stopped the show for that.
Scott's lawyer says he didn't know people required medical help because they were being removed from the crowd on golf carts that didn't look like ambulances. Above, one fan is taken out of the crowd
Scott couldn't 'hear or see' anything because of the pyrotechnics on stage and because he was wearing an earpiece, his attorney said
Scott's lawyer says he didn't know how many people had died until the next morning, despite cops declaring it a mass casualty event at 9.40pm on Friday
At least two Houston Police Department cops were spotted holding their phones up and filming at Travis Scott's deadly Astroworld gig 30 minutes after it was declared a mass-casualty event. Fans now say it's wrong of them to blame Scott for the tragedy when they didn't prevent it either
'But understand, when he's up on the stage and has flash pops going off around him and he has an ear monitor with music blasting , he can't hear anything. He can't see anything,' he sad.
McPherson added that Scott was also unaware of fans who stormed security gates and that he was 'preparing for the concert' when that was going on.
He claims he has 'grown up' since his previous arrests for inciting riots, and that he was trying to give his fans a lively show after COVID-lockdowns.
'He certainly was not aware of people storming gates. He doesn't run security. He was preparing for the concert.
'Travis as an artist has grown up a lot. I've spoken to him personally about it. He didn't understand the magnitude of his power on the stage, and he has matured over the years.
'I think it's nothing more than any other performer. You want your audience to be engaged. You don't want them to be sitting down. He didn't have anything like this in mind.
Scott, 30, outside his home on Thursday on the phone. The rapper has offered to pay the funeral expenses of those who died and their counseling bills, but the families of the victims say it's not enough
Kylie Jenner, Scott's partner, issued this statement on Instagram earlier this week insisting they were both unaware of the deaths at the time they were happening
Bharti Shahani, a senior at Texas A&M, died on Thursday from injuries sustained at Astroworld
'He wanted them to be engaged, have a good time. We're coming out of COVID. This is what this festival was all about,' he said.
Fans have also claimed that Houston cops were taking videos of the concert and selfies in the crowd instead of trying to get people to safety after it was declared a mass casualty event.
Alex Boro, who attended the event, told FOX News it's wrong for Houston PD to blame the deaths on Scott when its officers were there and not acting urgently enough either.
'I didn't know the extent of what was going on. The cops were just standing there taking selfies, and then all this news came out, and it's crazy how they were doing that when all this other stuff was going on.
'I'm just upset how the Houston Police Department is trying to twist the story when they had all the power to stop everything when they were just standing there.
'Especially when they knew what was going on as they said they did. I feel like they're just lying to the public.'
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