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Can Travis Scott be arrested for Astroworld tragedy? Charged in 2015 for inciting crowd

There are calls for Travis Scott to be arrested as critics blame him for continuing with his musical set, ignoring the pleas of concert-goers

Calls for Travis Scott to be arrested are growing stronger after 8 people were killed and several others were injured as the excited crowd surged forward when the rapper was on stage at the Astroworld Festival in Houston on Friday night, November 5. 

Astroworld Festival released a statement after the "mass casualty" event at the festival which was triggered when the crowd began "to compress toward the front of the stage" just after 9 pm, local time. "Our hearts are with the Astrword Festival family tonight — Especially those we lost and their loved ones. We are focused on supporting local officials however we can. With that in mind, the festival will no longer be held on Saturday," the statement said in part. Travis is yet to release a statement. 

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'Travis Scott should be arrested'

There are calls for Travis Scott to be arrested as critics blame him for continuing with his musical set, ignoring the pleas of concert-goers to stop performing, even after law enforcement officials arrived at the scene to aid those hurt in the commotion. "Travis scott needs to get arrested," one of them simply stated, while another noted, "TRAVIS SCOTT SHOULD BE ARRESTED He could have stopped the concert but continued and more people died! A ten year old boy died!!! Wtf throw this man in jail! SMH #ASTROWORLDFest #AstroWorld." A third user created and posted a survey to see when people think Travis will be arrested. Alright put all your bets in @trvisXX will be arrested by hpd by: #ASTROWORLDFest," the survey asked. 

There were also those who brought up a similar pattern of behavior on Travis' part in the past. One of them remarked, "Travis Scott got arrested in 2015 for encouraging the crowd to ignore security and rush the stage at Lollapalooza. It doesn't appear that he did this at Astroworld in Houston on Friday but absolutely terrible that the organizers didn't stop the show." Another quipped, "Travis Scott encourages this kind of behavior, he's been arrested for starting riots, how did y'all expect him to stop that? I'm glad the #ASTROWORLDFest got cancelled. Prayers up for the victims." The next added, "#TravisScott has been warned for YEARS about encouraging dangerous crowd behavior from his fan, many of whom are minors. This tragedy immediately reminded me of when Travis Scott was filmed arrested in 2017 for blatantly endangering crowd safety at his show AGAINST advice .."

A commenter tweeted, "And, in 2015, Travis Scott was arrested for inciting the crowd to jump barriers at Lollapalooza, which I'm sure is going to be brought up in the inevitable lawsuits." One more said, "He has, quite literally, been arrested for exactly that." A person reacted with, "The people have SPOKEN we want travis scott arrested!!! #ASTROWORLDFest" Another commented, "#ASTROWORLDFest was a nightmare all day and Travis Scott still performed and incited a stampede. And it's not his 1st time. He should be arrested. Security was like Capitol police on 1/6. Mob rule. Not enough manpower. Barricades breached. Fear. This didn't have to happen." One more wrote, "Travis Scott needs to be arrested and charged with 8 counts of manslaughter. What a scumbag."

What happened at Lollapalooza 2015?

Travis Scott was arrested and charged with disorderly conduct after he caused a commotion at the event by urging fans to ignore security measures by climbing over barricades and rush to the stage during his performance at Lollapalooza in Grant Park back in 2015. 

Organizers at the time said that it could have turned into a fairly dangerous situation, but security quickly got things under control by stopping Scott five minutes into his performance. The Office of Emergency Management issued a statement saying, "The performer played one song and then began telling fans to come over the barricades. Due to the security's quick response, the situation was remedied immediately and no fans were injured. The performer fled the scene and was taken into custody a short while later. "