Anticipation was welling through the air in NRG Park in Houston on the morning of Friday, Nov. 5. However, by 9:38 p.m., over 50,000 people were in the midst of a ‘mass casualty’ event where eight people died, 11 people were left in critical condition and 300 people were hospitalized—the youngest of whom was 10 years old. Almost 40 minutes after the chaos of this event had been deemed a mass casualty (which describes an incident in which emergency medical service’s resources are overwhelmed by the number and severity of casualties) the music finally stopped.  

For those 40 minutes, Travis Scott stayed on the stage singing and dancing as people were dying in the front rows of the crowd. “I want to see some rages. Who want to rage?” yelled Scott, moments before he spotted an ambulance and said, “There’s an ambulance in the crowd, whoa, whoa, whoa.” He stopped the music for a moment. Then, when the music resumed, he urged the crowd to “make the ground shake.” Yet, with the commotion ensuing and ambulances present, he still didn’t stop performing for more than that small moment.  

         Stopping a performance midway through due to injury or worry about the safety of the crowd is not a new concept. This mentality can be seen in rock, punk, and pop shows alike. Examples of this come from Linkin Park (a rock band), where the lead singers stopped a show when they noticed an unruly mosh pit and started a chant with the crowd by saying, “When someone falls what do you do?” and having the crowd respond. Niall Horan (pop) started off a show by telling the crowd to back up and that their safety is his top priority. Harry Styles (pop) has also been caught on video stopping a performance to give a fan in the front his water bottle when they weren’t doing well. There have also been many TikToks made by members of the punk scene where they have given their first-hand accounts of crowds noticing that it is getting a bit out of hand and stopping or helping injured people to the medic station.  

         This isn’t the first time that one of Scott’s shows has gotten out of hand. In 2015 he plead guilty to reckless conduct charges after he encouraged fans to ‘vault security barricades’ at Lollapalooza in Chicago. Then, in 2018, Scott was charged with disorderly conduct after a concert at the Walmart Arkansas Music Pavilion, where he ‘urged members of the crowd to rush the stage,’ resulting in several injuries, including a police officer and a security guard. There have also been many first-hand accounts from Scott’s former security guards circulating on the internet, where one-man details how Scott was yelling, “F— you” at him while he was stopping fans from hopping the barricade.  

         As of now, there are no criminal charges against Scott or the event planners, Live Nation. However, there are some personal lawsuits that have been filed. Scott has also made a video on his Instagram giving updates about the tragedy. There are also many first-hand accounts being posted to social media of people that were at the event.