Godmother of stampede victim says revoking the Armory’s license was the right decision

ROCHESTER, N.Y. — It’s been just over a week now since the stampede at the GloRilla concert at the Main Street Armory. Rhondesia Belton was one of the three women that were trampled and died in that stampede.

On Monday night, her family responded to a statement released by the Armory over the weekend. In that statement, the Armory’s legal team said the owner is devastated by the loss of life but they’re confident an investigation will find no wrongdoing or negligence on the Armory’s part.

Owner Scott Donaldson’s entertainment license was revoked after he and his attorney tried to postpone two meetings with the city following the stampede. Rhondesia’s godmother, Talisha McClain says she thinks that was the right decision.

“It infuriated me. It made me very angry. I was told that the doors were chained. I’ve seen a video of people saying, how do we get out,” McClain said. “…If those allegations are true, I truly believe that this owner does not deserve to have a business license for the rest of his entire life.”

She said she’s not convinced that Donaldson and the promoters truly understand the grief she and the rest of the family are going through.

“It took them a while to respond, and not just that, if they understand the grieve of these families, how come they haven’t reached out to support? Why haven’t they reached out to say, how can we help you,” McClain said.

RELATED:

• Remembering the three women who died after the stampede at the Armory concert (March 13)
• Local restaurant owner caters meal for Armory stampede victim’s family in advance of funeral (March 13)
• City responds to Armory owner’s claim of being ‘unreasonable’ (March 12)
• Woman killed in crowd surge at Rochester concert honored by medical staff for organ donation (March 8)
• Events at Armory on hold amid investigation after fatal concert (March 8)
• After Armory tragedy, security expert talks what to do if trapped in stampede (March 8)
• More questions than answers for Rochester family of stampede victim (March 7)
• Second concert stampede victim dies, third victim fighting for her life (March 6)
• City officials investigate events at the Armory; Were rules followed? (March 6)
• People, parents recount stories of getting trampled inside the Armory (March 6)