By: Zerlina Tang
Kai Cenat, a famous streamer on Twitch, is said to be facing the consequences of promoting an unlawful gathering, which later turned into a riot, with the motivation of free items.
At the event, police arrested 65 individuals, including 30 that are juveniles. Four participants and two police officers were taken to the hospital, with another police officer suffering from a badly injured hand. Jeffrey Maddrey, the New York Police Department’s highest-ranking uniformed officer, said that the incident was a representation of the horrifying “power of social media, the danger of social media. We went from 300 kids to a couple of thousand kids in minutes. We have to be responsible when we use this tool.”
How did a crowd this huge gather so quickly? Cenat announced a giveaway of PlayStation 5s on his Instagram story on Friday at 4 p.m. Around 300 people had assembled by 1:30 p.m., according to Maddery, who said during a press conference Friday that the crowd was “something we would expect for a social media event like this.” However, by 3 p.m., word of the giveaway of PS5 consoles had traveled rapidly on the internet, and thousands of people began to arrive at Union Square, he added. And before anyone knew it, the police were at the park, and removed Cenat from the event “for safety reasons,” as Maddrey explained later on.
Cenat’s popularity may be a main cause why this event was so crowded and chaotic. Cenat has 6.5 million Twitch followers and the largest number of monthly subscribers on the network, with over 300,000 paying viewers in February. (That is more paid subscribers than most publications in the United States.) Friday’s gift was a cooperation with Bronx YouTube sensation Fanum, who found and advanced Cenat’s video producing career. Cenat’s popularity soared as he streamed alongside rappers such as 21 Savage and Bobby Shmurda. Cenat has earned tens of thousands of dollars every month simply by uploading videos of himself sleeping.
When the fans swarmed up, chaos ensued, according to Maddrey. They were throwing paint cans, bottles, and rocks, while others roamed about with shovels, axes, and other dangerous instruments from surrounding construction sites. The police chief stated that some in the crowd had launched fireworks amid the turmoil, and that one or two police officers had to be taken from the throng due to injuries. Because of this, Cenat is expected to show up at court on August 18th due to all the disorder and misconduct that was caused in the park.