‘THE ARTIST HAS COMMAND’

Houston Fire Chief: Travis Scott Should Have Stopped Astroworld Show

But he also says it’s still not clear whether the rapper was “fully aware” of the deadly mayhem unfolding.

Houston Fire Chief Samuel Peña says Travis Scott should have stopped performing as the crowd near the stage at Astroworld turned into a death trap. “The artist has command of that crowd,” Pena said on NBC’s Today show. “In my opinion, and this is my opinion right now because everything is going to be fleshed out throughout this investigation, but certainly, the artist, if he notices something that's going on, he can certainly pause that performance, turn on the lights and say, ‘Hey we’re not going to continue until this thing is resolved.’”

Video from the show captured Scott commenting on an ambulance that was trying to get through the crush of fans to rescue the injured—before he sent two members of his crew stage-diving into the mosh pit. Fans were also chanting “Stop the show!” as people were knocked down and trampled into unconsciousness and death. Scott—who continued to perform for 40 minutes after a mass casualty incident was declared—claims he did not know what was happening until after the show. Pena said it’s still unclear what Scott saw. “I’m not prepared to say he was fully aware of what was going on,” he said.