The investigation on the tragic festival continues.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation has launched a new website asking festivalgoers to upload photos and videos taken on last year's tragic Astroworld festival.
The FBI's Astroworld website (fbi.gov/astroworld) was developed in conjunction with the Houston Police Department.
In a statement released yesterday, the government noted that they had previously combed through "countless hours of video evidence" before making their decision.
— Houston Police (@houstonpolice) January 14, 2022
The Houston Police, the lead department tasked with investigating Travis Scott's Astroworld Festival, said they have partnered with the bureau for "technical assistance" to ensure that they have captured "all possible evidence" for a complete investigation.
Specifically, both the Houston Police Department and Federal Bureau of Investigation are looking for footage and photos taken on the main venue from 8:00 PM - 11:00 PM, the timeframe wherein the chaos unfolded.
However, one expert, in particular, thinks that the creation of the website to gather more evidence from attendees "took far too long".
Expert's opinion
In an interview with Rolling Stone, Dr. Darrin Porcher, NYPD's Former lieutenant and Pace University School of Criminal Justice Professor, explained his thoughts on the case.
He thought the Houston Police should have "hit the gas immediately" upon starting the investigation, implying that the website should have been created prior.
Porcher expressed his distraught and confusion as to why investigators did not create the website immediately.
The professor also explained that it is clear that the HPD cannot conduct the investigation fully, and the FBI did not "drive it as quickly as they should have".
He also said that the Federal Bureau of Investigation possesses a large field office covering Houston with the ample resources known to the city's police force.
Porcher also alluded to the past time the leadership wasted investigating deeper, saying that "the chain of command kind of fell asleep at the wheel".
Darrin Porcher serves as an expert at Hilliard Martinez Gonzales LLP, the law firm representing the 700 Astroworld attendees who pressed charges against the festival.
Alex Hillard, one of the plaintiff's lawyers, said to Rolling Stone that the delay was not unlikely to affect the value of any footage submitted as they have been "diligently obtaining" all of the information needed.
Hillard also revealed that there would be "a lot of information provided to prosecutors" to establish that "there was absolute criminal activity" that occurred.
In a ruling issued last month, it was determined that all ten deaths at Houston's Astroworld were unintentional and resulted from compression asphyxia.
When the 50,000-strong crowd pressed towards the stage, around 300 people were hurt - leaving eight people dead, with victims trapped by barricades on three sides while waiting and watching Travis Scott perform.
