A well-known musician, Tyler, the Creator, was arrested at the South by Southwest musical festival in Austin, TX recently. The 23-year old was charged with a misdemeanor for allegedly inciting a riot in the crowd.
According to this news article, the artist – whose official name is Tyler Okonma – gave a performance at the music festival and, at some point during the performance, encouraged his audience to begin a riot which required police involvement.
Okonma allegedly encouraged his fans to force themselves past the employees that were guarding the venue of his full-to-capacity performance. The performer is cited as having doing this on more than one occasion.
Encouraging people to pile in to a venue that is already at full capacity significantly raises the risk of injury to all the people who are in the space – capacity limits are put in place to protect individuals.
Also, exciting the crowd and encouraging them to break rules increases the risk of serious injury because of the amount of pushing, shoving, and even trampling that can happen when fans are fighting to be closer to one of their favorite musicians.
Although Tyler, the Creator has been released on bond – and even played another show the night after his arrest – the musician could face additional charges in the future for the riot he encouraged.
Anybody who was personally injured by the rowdy crowd that Okonma created could eventually push for charges against the artist to get compensation for their suffering or any other damages.
If it can be proven that the actions of the musician were the reason that a person, or persons, suffered minor to severe injuries then he could face charges based on his negligence for the safety of the people who were in attendance.
Time will tell whether the performer will face additional personal injury charges for the negligence of his fans’ safety and the injuries that negligence may have caused.
If you are the victim of negligence and have suffered personal injury at the fault of another individual in St. Louis, MO, contact the experienced personal injury attorneys at the Finney Law Office, LLC.