2 security guards hurt at Astroworld festival file lawsuit: 'Plan wasn't executed the right way'
HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) -- Two security guards who were among the injured during the Astroworld Festival tragedy have filed a lawsuit against a number of parties - including the company that hired them.
Samuel and Jackson Bush, an uncle and nephew, were injured when the chaos broke out the night of Nov. 5 at NRG Park.
On Monday, Samuel and Jackson, along with their attorney Larry Taylor of The Cocharn Firm, announced their lawsuit as a result of the event. Among those in the lawsuit, Taylor named New York-based AJ Melino & Associates as the global security company that hired both men, citing a failure to "provide a safe workplace and any basic training."
Ant Boogie has worked in the entertainment industry for decades. He said that the more he learns about how security was handled at Astroworld, the more he is convinced that it was "inadequate."
"For something like that, it should always be licensed security officials. Period," he said.
Boogie also said the claim that AJ Melino & Associates put out ads on social media for security personnel is a red flag.
"I've never known any of the promoters or venues that I've worked with, in the past, to do something of that nature. To look for security on social media, that's just inappropriate," he said.
Jackson said he and his uncle were hired the morning of the concert, after seeing a social media post from the company to show up in all black.
The men went to NRG Park at 5:30 a.m. Friday ready to work, but did not imagine the chaos that would ensue.
As the concert got underway, both men recall things going downhill.
"It was a lot of distress. A lot of people were so in to the concert, they didn't want to be helped," Jackson recalled.
"When things got bad, that's when the crowd started to stampede, and barricade, and tear stuff and do whatever they had to do to get in," Samuel added. "It was just overwhelming. I was trying to help out as much as I could, and I wound up getting hurt."
In the incident, Samuel recalled getting trampled twice. It was in the second incident that his hand was injured.
"Things started getting more and more out of hand," Samuel said.
Jackson, Taylor adds, suffered shoulder and back pain, as well as emotional trauma as he watched CPR performed on one of the lifeless bodies.
Both men said they were not given instructions about what to do if things got out of hand, but were rather told where to stand, to not let people run, be safe, and to not put their hands on anybody.
Among the things being disputed in the lawsuit is the men's pay. Both men were initially told they would be paid $30 per hour, but then that changed to not being paid at all, to eventually being paid something on their Cash app, according to Taylor.
Taylor said they are looking more into the incident as well as previous Travis Scott events, as it is not the first time fans broke through barricades and trampled on one another.
Boogie also said he still believes general admission events won't be banned in Houston. He said, I still believe theyll happen, but security will be better and planning will be better.
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