Astroworld is an annual music festival run by rapper Travis Scott in Texas. There was a tragedy at this year’s festival, two weeks ago, when a crowd surge caused a crush and resulted in the deaths of 10 people - the latest being a 9 year old boy (opens new window) who died two days ago from his injuries.

As we’ve seen with recent tragedies, especially in the US, it doesn’t take long for conspiracy rumours to start spreading. Often claims are made that horrific events were staged in order to influence the public, using "crisis actors" rather than real victims. Or sometimes it’s that the real perpetrator is a shady government group, and that those accused have been framed.

However, in this instance, the rumour that has already started making the rounds on Twitter, TikTok and other social media sites isn’t that the tragedy was faked, or a covert op - it’s that the event was a Satanic ritual, and that the deaths were ritual blood sacrifices (opens new window). In fact even celebrities have been in on the act, with KISS guitarist Ace Frehley sharing this conspiracy (opens new window) on Facebook.

And a controversial pastor got in on the act as well. Pastor Greg Locke has a history of spreading bad COVID advice in the US, telling people that the pandemic is fake, the vaccine is a scam and that he would kick parishioners out of his church if they wore a mask. Here’s Greg describing a "prophetic dream" he apparently had last month:

https://youtu.be/VhRWK818-SE?t=122 (opens new window)

And he’s now been spreading the idea that Satanism is behind Travis Scott’s music, his stage show and the deaths. Supposedly there are hints in Travis’ music that he is a satanist, and the stage Travis performed on is meant to have had many hints, including a portal to hell and inverted crosses. Although I couldn’t find audio of Greg’s sermon, I was able to find video from a popular Christian YouTuber called Tina Golik who usually makes arts and crafts videos:

https://youtu.be/jCUxbiXcuPM?t=380 (opens new window)

Yesterday a Catholic priest got in on the act, telling Fox News that the event was demonic, with the gates of hell being featured on stage.

Obviously this is nonsense, but it concerns me just how quickly these silly rumours can spread in the internet age. One person’s video posted online can give rise to more and more videos, with nobody bothering to check the validity of the original claims. It’s a house of cards, where the entire rumour is built on a couple of anonymous social media posts.

This whole thing also has a real feeling of the 1980s Satanic Panic witch hunts - a dark stain on the US where innocent parents and teachers were locked up for committing both farcical and gruesome child abuse crimes that they did not commit.