By: Isaac Yuan

Kai Cenat, 21, will face multiple charges after producing a riot that caused thousands of people to storm into a park in New York City. The riot was formed when the Twitch streamer promised free electronics, including PlayStation 5 consoles.

By 1:30 pm, a few hours before the giveaway was going to start at 4 pm, about 300 people had gathered. Jeffery Madrey, New York’s highest ranking officer, said that number was “something we would expect for a social media event like this.” But by 3 p.m., news of the giveaway had spread widely online, and several thousand people began to invade the park.

They started to throw down fences, attack police with rocks and other objects, and damage property. The police eventually removed Cenat from the park, because someone was going to get seriously hurt if they didn’t.

Maddrey said people in the park threw paint cans, bottles and rocks, and some even lit fireworks during the chaos. One or two police officers had to be moved out because of injuries.

By around 5:00 pm, police, some on horseback, were breaking up the crowd, and an hour later, most people were out of the park.

Source:

– New York Times