Monday 19 March 2018

Bomb threat forces cancellation of 'The Roots' concert at the SXSW festival




A bomb threat at the South by Southwest on Saturday caused Bud Light to cancel a concert featuring The Roots.



According to reports, Austin police arrested Trevor Weldon Ingram, 26, in connection with the threat. He was arrested on charges of making a terroristic threat. The incident began Saturday around 4:30 p.m. when a Live Nation Music representative contacted police to report a bomb threat received by email was made to the Fair Market event venue where "Bud Light x The Roots & Friends Jam" was scheduled to take place, police said.



Officers responded to the location and found no explosives. As a result of the threat, Bud Light canceled the event.



The company said in a statement on Twitter that "the safety of all fans at SXSW is our most important priority." SXSW also made a statement on Twitter, apologizing for the inconvenience. A little before midnight Saturday, police said they identified Ingram as a suspect.



The bomb threat comes five days after separate incidents in which two packages exploded at Austin homes. Austin police said the March 12 explosions and another on March 2 were connected. The explosions killed Anthony Stephan House, 39, and Draylen Mason, 17, and severely injured a 75-year-old Hispanic woman. House and Draylen were African-American. Police have not decided if these are hate crimes, but said that's a possibility because of the victims' ethnicities. The Roots is a Philadelphia-based hip-hop band.

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