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- Manuel Souza is seeking $1 million in damages after he was trampled at the Astroworld Festival.
- His lawyers cited several dangerous incidents that occurred at previous Travis Scott performances.
- A petition for a temporary restraining order was filed by Souza’s lawyers to preserve evidence.
An individual who was injured during the mass casualty event at Astroworld Festival filed a lawsuit Saturday seeking $1 million in damages from Jacques Webster II – better known as Travis Scott – and his label, as well as festival organizers ScoreMore Shows, Live Nation, ASM Global, and Trey Hicks Public Relations.
Attorneys representing Manuel Souza, a Houston resident who was trampled at the festival, alleged in the lawsuit that the tragedy was “predictable and preventable.”
“Tragically, due to Defendants’ motivation for profit at the expense of concertgoers’ health and safety, and due to their encouragement of violence, at least 8 people lost their lives and scores of others were injured at what was supposed to be a night of fun,” wrote Steve Kherkher of Kherkher Garcia, a Houston-based personal injury firm representing Souza.
Kherkher argued that attendees were put at extreme risk of harm when concertgoers successfully breached a security gate earlier in the day and stampeded onto the premises, court documents show.
During Webster’s performance, Kherkher alleged that safety conditions rapidly devolved, with emergency vehicles driving through the crowd to render aid to concertgoers.
“This was against a backdrop of multiple reports of tramplings, patrons losing consciousness, patrons being unable to breathe due to profound lack of crowd control, inadequate water, inadequate security, and a lack of exit routes,” Kherkher wrote in the lawsuit. “So many people were hurt, and so few emergency personnel were provided by Defendants, that patrons themselves had to conduct CPR on their fellow concertgoers.”
The lawsuit also alleged the tragedy was “months, if not years, in the making,” citing one of Webster’s now-deleted tweets encouraging fans to sneak into his concert and several dangerous incidents that occurred at his previous performances, including the following:
- August 2015: Webster was arrested and faced disorderly conduct charges for allegedly telling fans to jump over barricades, according to the Economic Times. Webster pleaded guilty.
- April 2017: A fan was paralyzed at one of Webster’s concerts after he was forced over a third-story edge amid a “severely crowded” event, Rolling Stone reported.
- May 2017: The Associated Press reported that Webster encouraged people to bypass security and rush a concert stage, resulting in injuries to a security guard. Webster pleaded guilty.
Souza and his attorneys allege Webster and the festival’s organizers were grossly negligent with the health and safety of Astroworld concertgoers and asked for a jury to determine the fair amount of compensation in damages.
Webster has released videos and statements since the night of the concert stating that he is committed to working with officials in Houston to heal and support victims’ families. Kylie Jenner, who is currently pregnant with her second child with Webster, said in an Instagram story that she and Webster were not aware of any fatalities until the news came out after the show.
In addition to the lawsuit, Souza’s attorneys filed a petition for a temporary restraining order that would prevent Webster, the organizers, and any of their affiliates from changing, altering, destroying, or modifying any evidence related to the incident, including stage infrastructure, barricades, equipment, and surveillance footage.
Representatives for Webster, ScoreMore Shows, Live Nation, ASM Global, and Trey Hicks Public Relations did not immediately respond to Insider’s requests for comment.
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