Popular Twitch streamer Kai Cenat’s free PS5 giveaway event sparks chaos in New York City

A popular Twitch streamer and “others” were arrested after his giveaway event caused mayhem in Ney York City on Friday (Aug 5).

Around 2,000 descended onto Union Square Park after celebrity video game live-streamer Kai Cenat announced to give away free PlayStation 5 consoles, gift cards and other items, according to BBC.

Crowds started to gather first around 1 pm (17:00 GMT) in the afternoon, but by 3 pm, hundreds piled on the streets in one of New York City's busiest train stops.

What made the crowd unruly isn’t clear, but people were seen throwing garbage at police officers, who had arrived there for crowd control and broke down barriers in the area.

Riot charges have now been slapped against Kai Cenat.

NYPD mobilised extra force

According to local reports, people climbed on cars, and threw chairs and bottles at the police officers. One person was said to have unleashed a fire extinguisher amid the chaos.

Unable to control the crowd, the NYPD mobilised around 1,000 officers to the scene and detained several people.

According to CBS News, Cenat did not have a permit for the event. He was later taken into police custody at around 5 pm.

After the incident, NYPD chief of department Jeffrey Maddrey in a press conference confirmed that Cenat is in custody, but didn’t reveal in what precinct he has been kept.

Maddrey said that the NYPD became aware of the posts at about 1.30 pm (local time), before the posts went viral at around 3 pm.

New York Post said later that Cenat was issued a desk appearance ticket on Friday night and was later allowed to walk out of a Manhattan precinct.

TroublemakerCenant

After some in the crowd acted violently, they removed Cenat from the park before eventually declaring the gathering an unlawful assembly, he said.

A few hours earlier before the event, he posted a video from the inside of a vehicle before getting out, talking about multiple PS5s he intended to give away while showing off a huge stack of $100 gift cards.

According to TwitchTracker, Cenat is the most-subscribed streamer on its platform.

Cenat is a social media celebrity, best known for streaming gameplay, pranks and comedic reactions on Twitch.

He broke therecord for most active subscriberson Twitch in March after completing a 30-day uninterrupted livestream, also known as a subathon.

He is also notorious for his antics, which have gotten him in some trouble on the platform. He has been temporarilybanned from Twitch five times.

(With inputs from agencies)

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