Chaos in NYC's Union Square as Twitch streamer Kai Cenat draws thousands with video game giveaway

NEW YORK — A wild melee erupted in Manhattan on Friday as thousands of people overran Union Square hoping for a glimpse of Twitch streamer and internet gaming celebrity Kai Cenat and a chance at PlayStation consoles they believed Cenat was giving away.

Before it was over, police officers from across the city were pelted with bottles, paint cans, rocks and other debris, countless people were injured, evening rush hour subway service was diverted from Union Square, and Cenat was in police custody.

Cenat — who announced the gathering on X, formerly known as Twitter — faced “multiple counts,” including “at least two counts of inciting a riot, unlawful assembly, and a few other charges,” said NYPD Chief of Department Jeffrey Maddrey.

Cenat was held at the 19th Precinct station house on the Upper East Side on Friday night, police sources said.

Cops were still tallying up the number of arrests late Friday. Police sources said Friday evening that at least two dozen people were in custody, including at least 19 juvenile suspects.

Police were also trying to understand how the situation got out of hand.

“This speaks to the power of social media,” Maddrey said. “We do monitor social media.”

He promised a study of what police knew ahead of time about Cenat’s giveaway. “We can’t allow this to happen again,” Maddrey said.

A teen in the crowd offered an explanation to a New York Daily News reporter:

“Some YouTuber is having a giveaway, and he’s doing it in the messiest way possible.”

Maddrey, who said he was slightly injured in the violence, said he “personally observed young people walking out bleeding from their heads, bleeding from their faces."

“I personally observed young people having panic attacks and anxiety attacks, asthma attacks — multiple people were suffering” he said.

“It was a lot of people. It was uncontrolled. It took us a while to get it under control. And a lot of young people got hurt.”

Cenat scheduled the meetup and giveaway for 4 p.m. Eastern time, said a now-deleted tweet posted on X.

The crowd began gathering hours beforehand, and Maddrey said police became aware of the situation early in the afternoon.

“The local precinct sent a few police officers out there,” Maddrey said. “It was about 300 people around 1:30 p.m., not a big crowd.”

Two hours later, around 3:30 p.m., the crowd had swelled to the thousands and the situation devolved into chaos, with people throwing plastic bottles and climbing structures in the Union Square Park, video from the scene showed.

A rare level four mobilization was called by the NYPD, sending all available cops to the scene.

“The crowd swarmed when the influencer finally arrived in the park,” Maddrey said.

“Everyone just started going crazy, like throwing stuff,” said a 15-year-old Bronx teen who gave his name as Oshua.

“Throwing water bottles and then they started throwing chairs and they threw a can of paint,” added another teen, Ali, 16, also of the Bronx.

Some of the items thrown at police were taken from construction sites in the park, Maddrey said.

“We had people walking around with shovels ... and other tools from the construction trade,” Maddrey said. “Additionally, individuals were also lighting fireworks, and they were throwing them towards the police and throwing them toward each other.”

Many in the crowd were eager to catch a glimpse of Cenat, Ali said.

“Everyone was going crazy because he was live and everything,” she said. “They were trying to figure out where he was.”

As more officers arrived at the scene, police played audio messages warning people in the crowd they might be arrested.

TV news footage at around 4:25 p.m. showed a car believed to be carrying Cenat leaving the scene. Several people were riding on top of the SUV as it drove from the area, and at least one person fell off.

“The influencer — we were able to eventually get him out of the park and remove him for safety reasons,” Maddrey said.

A Daily News reporter saw dozens of people in handcuffs. Among those arrested were two men — at least one an influencer in Cenat’s orbit — who danced down East 14th Street in handcuffs as people in the crowd cheered.

Cops also deployed a drone and called for officers on horseback to head to the area.

At least one store closed early as a result of the chaos, as police tried to move an MTA bus which had become stuck in the crowd. People could be seen standing on top of the bus.

People swarmed a bus carrying people who were arrested, Maddrey said. “We had young people attacking the bus trying to pull people off the bus,” he said. “We had to send resources there to protect the bus.”

Three police officers were injured, including two who were taken away in ambulances, and a sergeant broke his hand, said Maddrey. Four other people at the scene were also treated by EMS crews.

No gunfire was reported during the incident, Maddrey said.

The chief of department added that his NYPD vehicle was “destroyed,” as was the personal vehicle of newly appointed NYPD Assistant Commissioner Kaz Daughtry.

Cenat posted some video of event on his Twitch page.

Cenat, 21, is ranked as the second-most popular personality on Twitch, which focuses on streaming people playing video games. He’s amassed 6 million Twitch followers since 2021.

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