Two security guards who worked Travis Scott’s Astroworld Festival in Houston are suing two weeks after a brutal crowd rush at the concert killed 10 people and injured hundreds of others, including the guards.
Jackson Bush and Samuel Bush, an uncle, were both injured while trying to assist concertgoers in the crowd surge. Samuel says he was trampled several times and suffered injuries to his back and hand. Jackson sustained a shoulder injury.
The two have named 28 people and corporations in their suit, including Scott and his label Cactus Jack Records, Astroworld promoters Live Nation and ScoreMore, venue NRG Park, and security companies Contemporary Services Corp and AJ Melino & Associates, the latter of which hired the Bushes to work the concert. Samuel and Jackson Bush claim AJ Melino & Associates took very few measures to prepare its contracted employees for the chaos that ensued.
The suit alleges that the company didn’t issue background checks to ensure guards were qualified for the task, and the company didn’t supply any training to do their jobs. They reportedly weren’t given walkie-talkies and couldn’t communicate with their superiors as the crowd surge began. Jackson Bush claims that they were not given any instructions before starting, other than to arrive at the concert site in black.
“For the most part, they told us where to stand, not to let people run in, and to be safe and not to put our hands on anybody,”Jackson Bush spoke during a press conference. “There was no training.”
The two also say they’re still owed money from the security company for their work on the festival. AJ Melino & Associates didn’t immediately reply to Rolling Stone‘s request for comment. “You’d think it’d take more than signing your name,” the Bushes’ lawyer Larry Taylor said. “It was as simple as you and I walking on the other side of this gate.”
Astroworld attendees filed hundreds of lawsuits claiming that they suffered psychological trauma and physical injuries as a result of the event. Multiple lawsuits involving billions of dollars in damages have been filed against Scott and Live Nation.
The Bushes aren’t the first security guards who’ve said publicly they felt security companies didn’t prepare them enough for how to handle the event. Contemporary Services Corporation contracted Darius Williams as a security guard.Rolling Stone He felt the company had rushed to hire workers without properly training them for the event.
Fearing for his safety, he left his position before Travis Scott did. “If you look at my resume, I only have hospitality and retail experience,”Williams stated. “It felt like they just needed bodies, like they were hiring anyone who passed a background test.”