By: Chloe Tang
Thousands of people overran Union State Park and its surrounding area in New York City after hearing about Twitch streamer Kai Cenat’s PlayStation 5 consoles giveaway. Cenat announced his giveaway on an Instagram story post on Friday, August 4, at 4 PM. By 1:30 PM, around 300 were already there.
Jeffrey Maddrey is the New York Police Department’s highest-ranking uniformed officer.
“[Three hundred people arriving is] something we would expect for a social media event like this,” Maddrey said at a news conference that day.
However, two and a half hours later, at 3 PM, news of the giveaway spread widely online, and to the surprise of the police, thousands of people arrived in Union Square. They started blocking roads and obstructing traffic. Part of the crowd began to take down barriers and throw objects at the police, as well as jump on cars.
Eventually, police removed Cenat from the park since he didn’t coordinate his event with the police.
“[Cenat] is going to be charged with multiple counts: at least two counts of incitement to riot, unlawful assembly and a few other charges,” Maddrey said at a second news conference.
Maddrey reported that police arrested 65 people, 30 of them being juveniles. Two police officers and four civilians were taken to the hospital, while a third police officer had a broken hand.
“I personally saw other people leaving here with their heads split open, you know, cuts, bruises, lacerations,” Maddrey said, adding that he also had been hit on the head.
As Cenat approached the park, thousands of enthusiastic fans gathered around his car.
“They’re throwing tear gas out there,” Cenat said in a Twitch stream while he watched outside. “We’re not going to do nothing until it’s safe…Everybody for themselves, because it’s a war out there, man.”
After Cenat got out of his car, fans swarmed him; the stream cut out after Cenat’s bodyguards began pushing people away.
People who came for the giveaway threw anything they could get their hands on, from paint cans and bottles to rocks, while others walked around carrying shovels, axes, and other construction tools. A few in the crowd lit fireworks. A couple of police officers had to leave because of injuries from the crowd.
By around 5 p.m., police, some on horseback, were dispersing the crowd. An hour later, police managed to push much of the group out of the park.
“We want our young people to come out and gather and have fun,” Maddrey said. “But when it gets to the point where they get disorderly, we want the parents to come and take control. And let us take a step back.”
While it didn’t appear as if this giveaway event was a prank of some sort, Cenathas done other popular prank videos before. Cenat’s giveaway proved how social media can be both powerful and dangerous.