Influencer Kai Cenat is in custody after his promised Twitch giveaway incited a union square riot in Manhattan, New York City.
According to NYPD, influencer Kai Cenat was removed from the area for his safety after thousands of mostly young people rioted at Manhattan’s Union Square on Friday afternoon.
Their purpose was to score a free Play Station 5 promised by the NYC influencer but they overwhelmed the place, causing a riot.
This article provides more details about influencer Kai Cenat and the Union Square riot.
Who is Influencer Kai Cenat?
Influencer Kai Cenat is a 21-year-old Twitch streamer and YouTube rapper from the Bronx.
He was born on December 16th 2001. Raised in the Bronx, Kai Cenat first went viral for videos he made as a college student. He streams games like Call of Duty, NBA 2K, Grand Theft Auto and Valorant, and distinguishes himself with pranks, skits, and sit downs with special guest celebrities.
Kai Cenat has three other siblings, a younger brother named Kaleel, an older brother named Devonte, and a twin sister named Kaia.
Influencer Kai Cenat attended Frederick Douglass Academy for his secondary education. He graduated high school in 2019 and then attended the State University of New York at Morrisville in August 27, 2019 to study Business Administration but he eventually dropped out of college in 2020 due to the struggle of keeping up with schoolwork and content creation.
Although he has been creating YouTube videos since 2018, the NYC social media influencer hit the big time after he launched his Twitch profile in 2021.
Influencer Kai Cenat initially used the platform to live stream video games and to chat with fans, charging between $5 and $25 to view his content.
In February 2023, the social media influencer who sparked the Union Square riot broke the record for the most subscriptions on Twitch after topping 300,000.
He broke the previous record by carrying out a ‘subathon’ – an uninterrupted 30-day stream with the stream never going off even when he sleeps.
To keep fans entertained, he had to come up with various schemes including a karate class, yoga, police dog training, hypnosis and even a date. He dressed up as a Hogwarts student the day the new Harry Potter game released, enlisting special effects and the help of some friends from Gryffindor to create magical content.
He was also honored as the “Streamer of the Year” during the Dec. 2022 12th Streamy Awards.
Influencer Kai Cenat launched the Union Square giveaway as one of many generous givebacks that he often does.
However, that ended up sparking a riot at Union Square as young people overran the venue.
Independent journalist Ed Krassenstein reported on Twitter: “BREAKING: Social media personality Kai Cenat has been arrested after chaos unfolded at his event in Union Square.
“Cenat, for those unaware, is a well-known Twitch streamer and YouTuber, whom earlier this year became the most streamed Twitch user ever. Cenat was holding the event as some sort of “Huge Giveaway” and promised to give video game consoles and more away.
“However, the event turned into an unruly mob that began throwing objects at police officers. People then reportedly began clinging onto his vehicle as it left the scene.
“What are your thoughts about this incident? What the heck caused it to become so unruly? Why does it seem Cenat drove away with people on his vehicle?”
Earlier this year, influencer Kai Cenat donated $10,000 to a 13-year-old fan suffering from a rare heart condition,
The child was in a difficult state as he has undergone three heart surgeries since he was three years old. According to reports, he was not expected to live past the age of three, but the boy has been fighting strong for the past 10 years. The cause of this hurtful condition is that the 13-year-old has severe scoliosis, which is a rare heart condition.
Influencer Kai Cenat surprised him by donating $10,000 to his Gofundme.
Despite his groundbreaking success on the platform and generosity, the influencer at the heart of Union Square riot has been banned from Twitch a jaw-dropping five times.
He was kicked off the platform for a week in April for “repeated explicit simulated activity” during a stream of himself playing Grand Theft Auto 5, Game Rant reported.
Three months earlier, Cenat was banned for passing out during his live stream after ingesting a marijuana edible — which he also ate while on camera.
On two occasions, Cenat was punished for using hateful language.
He was also cited once for accidentally viewing a video on his live-streamed computer that showed n*dity.
In January this year, TikTok stat Jov Pena took to X, formerly known as Twitter, to claim she was brutally raped by one of Cenat’s friends during a New Year’s Eve party hosted by the streamer inside his home.
She alleged that Cenat advised her to sleep in an upstairs guest room when she tried to go home after a heavy night of drinking, according to Dextero.
After Pena confided in Cenat that his friend Djigui Seck allegedly assaulted her, she claims Cenat avoided her messages, did not help identify the alleged assaulter and would not cooperate with police.
Influencer Union Square riot
Thousands of people were in a riot at Union Square in New York City the afternoon of Friday, August 4th 2023 hoping to score a free PlayStation 5s and other electronics after Twitch influencer Kai Cenat promised a “huge giveaway” there at 4 p.m.
The park was already packed at 3 p.m. and, according to NYPD chief Jeffrey Maddrey, “individuals in the park began to commit acts of violence towards the police and the public.”
After some people broke into a nearby construction site, “They began to throw articles that belonged to the construction site: paint can, bottles, rocks. You had people walking around with shovels, axes, and other tools from the construction trade,” he said. “Individuals were also lighting fireworks, throwing them towards the police, they were throwing them towards each other.”
Influencer Kai Cenat was eventually removed “for safety reasons,” though it was unclear whether the action was an arrest or simply a move to de-escalate the situation.
Images from TV news outlets and social media showed a packed space, with traffic stopped and some people on top of cars and others being arrested. The NYPD activated its highest “Level 4” disaster response. Traffic was diverted from the area and local subway stops were closed.
The park was eventually cleared, with multiple arrests.
Chief Maddrey was unclear just how many people were taken into custody, but said, “We loaded up a city bus.” He then revealed that people attacked the bus itself.
“We had young people attack the bus, trying to pull people off the bus. We had to send resources in to protect the bus. It was a very dangerous situation,” he said.
“Our officers were attacked” and injured, Chief Maddrey said, including himself. He indicated he personally was in the middle of the scrum.
And it wasn’t just police.
“A lot of young people got hurt,” Maddrey announced, before saying that he had witnessed multiple persons leaving the scene bleeding.
After the park was emptied, police followed roving bands of rioters to make sure that property and people were safe.
“We have encountered things like this before,” said the chief of social media events, “but never to this level…We can’t allow this to happen in the future.”
Influencer Kai Cenat arrest
Twitter went nuts over the Union square giveaway riot as additional info came out revealing the NYC social media influencer behind it was in custody.
New York City Police Chief Jeffrey Maddrey told reporters that the NYC influencer Kai Cenat was in custody and is likely to be charged with at least two counts of inciting a riot and unlawful assembly.
As of Friday night, it wasn’t immediately clear if he had been booked.
Kai Cenat was removed from the area for his safety after thousands of mostly young people descended on Manhattan’s Union Square on Friday afternoon, Maddrey said earlier.
Maddrey said that 65 people were arrested. Thirty of them were juveniles, he said.
They were taken into custody after people threw bottles, fireworks, rocks and paint cans that had been taken from a construction site at the park, Maddrey said.
Three officers were injured, he said. A sergeant suffered a broken hand.
“Officers were attacked, we were crushed,” he said, adding that he had been hit with “multiple objects.”
“I personally observed young people having panic attacks, anxiety attacks,” he said. “People were suffering out here.”
Influencer Kai Cenat on Wednesday announced on his Twitch channel that he would host a “huge” Union Square giveaway that ended up causing the riot – promising video game consoles, PCs, keyboards, gaming chairs, headphones and other items.
Police said the event wasn’t permitted or sanctioned by the city.
Aerial video showed hundreds of people gathered in the Manhattan park Friday afternoon. The video appeared to capture a skirmish, and people could be seen standing on cars.
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