Travis Scott's lawyer accused officials of 'inconsistent messages' after Astroworld tragedy
Travis Scott's lawyer has claimed there have been "inconsistent messages" about the tragedy at Astroworld Festival.
The musician's attorney Edwin F. McPherson has accused city officials in Houston, Texas, of "finger-pointing" and claimed they have "backtracked" on certain statements following the event, where hundreds were injured and eight died following a crowd surge.
He told PEOPLE: "[They] have sent inconsistent messages and have backtracked from original statements."
He added: "Houston Police Chief Troy Finner was quoted in the New York Times as saying 'You cannot just close when you got 50,000 and over 50,000 individuals. We have to worry about rioting, riots, when you have a group that's that young.'
"Yet, just a short time later, Chief Finner states the responsibility to stop the show falls on Travis."
On Wednesday (10.11.21), the chief said local officials didn't have the power to end the performance, insisting the "ultimate authority to end the show is with the production and the entertainer" - although he later said he didn't want to "point fingers" until the on-going investigation had concluded.
And Travis' lawyer added: "It was reported that the Operations Plan designated that only the festival director and executive producers have authority to stop the show, neither of which is part of Travis's crew.
"This also runs afoul of HPD's own previous actions when it shut down the power and sound at this very festival when the performance ran over five minutes back in 2019.
"Investigations should start proceeding over finger-pointing so that together, we can identify exactly what transpired and how we can prevent anything like this from happening again."
Numerous lawsuits have been filed over the tragedy.
Travis - who has three-year-old daughter Stormi with pregnant partner Kylie Jenner - was on stage when the crowd surge took place, and he later expressed his support for the families on social media.
In a statement posted on his Twitter account, the 30-year-old hip-hop star said: "I'm absolutely devastated by what took place last night. My prayers go out to the families and all those impacted by what happened at Astroworld Festival.
"Houston PD has my total support as they continue to look into the tragic loss of life.
"I am committed to working together with the Houston community to heal and support the families in need. Thank you to Houston PD, Fire Department and NRG Park for their immediate response and support.
"Love You All. (sic)"
Subsequently, Travis will play for the funerals of those who died, while he and his Cactus Jack Foundation are also teaming up with BetterHelp, an online portal providing mental health support, to offer free one-on-one virtual therapy sessions for anyone affected by the tragedy.
The rapper will also work with the National Alliance of Mental Illness, Mental Health America National and MHA of Greater Houston for those in need of mental health services.
ScoreMore Shows, which helped produce the festival alongside Live Nation, have also separately pledged to provide mental health counselling and will establish a fund to help with medical costs from the incident.
They will also issue full refunds to all attendees and are "working on ways to support the attendees, the families of victims, and staff."
