Social media influencers can attract a large crowd when they announce a fan meetup, for better or worse. The notoriety of content creators and streamers has grown exponentially in recent years, allowing some creators to garner the attention of thousands of people. Often when they host fan meetups in various locations, their followers can crowd up an area just to catch a glimpse of their favorite creator. And sometimes, things can go very wrong for everyone involved, especially if they handled everything poorly.
Popular Twitch streamer Kai Cenat was arrested at the start of the weekend on Friday after a game console giveaway and meet-up with his fans went horribly wrong. The streamer made a post on his social media accounts to his nearly 6.5 million followers to meet at Union Square Park in New York City. Kai told his followers he planned a big giveaway to those who showed up, including items like a PlayStation and other expensive tech accessories. While things started off fairly calm when people began to gather in the park around 3 pm EST, but eventually everything gradually went off the rails.
Kai was taken into custody as the giveaway turned chaotic, with people in the area beginning to fight and commit acts of violence towards police officers in the streets. The crowd became incredibly violent and went as far as to break into a nearby construction site and began picking up items to use as weapons. Eventually, NYPD police were able to remove Kai Cenat from the area, citing safety concerns, and activate a Level 4 response, which is one of the highest disaster responses for the department in the event of a disaster.
NYPD Chief Jeffrey Maddrey spoke during two conferences on Friday with the media after the event. “We went from 300 kids to a couple of thousands of kids in minutes… individuals in the park began to commit acts of violence towards the police and the public…You had people walking around with shovels, axes, and other tools from the construction. Individuals were also lighting fireworks, throwing them toward the police, they were throwing them toward each other… Young people destroyed our vehicles. My car is destroyed. They destroyed food carts. They destroyed stores…”
According to reports shared with various media outlets from the NYPD, three officers were injured in the event. At the same time, over 60 people were arrested, with 30 being juveniles according to the New York City Police Department. Due to the severity of everything, Kai Cenat is being charged with unlawful assembly and two counts of inciting a riot.
Other charges are also said to possibly be brought up against Kai as well. The streamer could be facing multiple years in jail if found guilty. A representative for Kai Cenat from AMP Group put out a statement to CNN regarding the situation. “Members of AMP hoped to create a positive experience for fans and give back as a show of appreciation for their support… We’ve hosted fan meet-ups and video shoots in the past, but we’ve never experienced anything at the scale of what took place yesterday.”
What do you think of the situation with Kai Cenat? Was his planned giveaway in NYC handled irresponsibly? Who should be held responsible for what happened in Union Square? Share your thoughts about everything in the comments below!
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