New York City authorities have pressed charges against a prominent social media influencer for inciting a riot.
This riot occurred on Saturday after an event organized by the online streamer for a video game console giveaway escalated into disorder on the streets of Manhattan.
Kai Cenat, 21, is now facing rioting and unlawful assembly charges. This follows an incident on Friday in Union Square where thousands, predominantly teenagers, converged. The crowd behavior included climbing on vehicles, hurling bottles at police, and engaging in multiple brawls.
Images and video clips broadcasted on television depicted rioters encircling and obstructing vehicles, with some individuals seen violently kicking and breaking parts of the cars.
Jeffrey Maddrey, New York City Police Chief, described the gruesome scene at a press conference: “People were bleeding from their faces, from their heads, many people were in pain. There were a lot of people. It was unbridled, and many young people were injured.”
In the end, the situation required the mobilization of a thousand police officers to break up the spontaneous assembly.
In response, law enforcement arrested 65 individuals, among whom were 30 minors. The chaos resulted in at least four individuals being hospitalized and injuries to three police officers.
Mayor Eric Adams commended the police force on Saturday: “I don’t think people recognize the restraint we demonstrated in managing a hazardous and unstable situation.
We restored order without fatalities or significant property damage and without the young participants injuring themselves.”
Mr. Cenat, who has an impressive following of 4 million subscribers on YouTube and over 6.5 million followers on Twitch, initially promoted the event by announcing a giveaway of hundreds of PlayStations 5s. He expressed discomfort upon his arrival at Union Square around 3 p.m.
During a live stream from a vehicle near the scene, he stated, “They’re launching tear gas out there. We won’t proceed until it’s secure. It’s every person for themselves as it’s like a war out there, man.”
He later managed to get to Union Square Park, only for the police to extract him from the crowd “for his safety.”
Mr. Cenat was handed a desk appearance ticket on Saturday and is scheduled to appear in court on Aug. 18 to respond to the charges.
