Who is Kai Cenat? Twitch streamer faces charges, including ‘starting a riot,’ after NYC giveaway

On Friday, popular Twitch streamer and YouTuber Kai Cenat announced he’d be giving away free electronics, including PlayStation 5 consoles, in Union Square Park, which attracted thousands of fans to the area. The event quickly turned chaotic, with dozens of people arrested after some were caught jumping on top of nearby vehicles, throwing garbage, setting off fireworks and fighting.

Cenat was released from police custody on Saturday morning and is set to appear in court on Aug. 18 to answer being charged with felony first-degree rioting, a misdemeanor inciting a riot and unlawful assembly.

Cenat, 21, is the most-subscribed Twitch streamer of all time, having hit the monumental record in February 2023. PlayStation 5 consoles usually retail for almost $500.

What happened in Union Square?

Cenat and fellow streamer Fanum told their combined millions of followers that they would be giving away PlayStation consoles and gift cards at Union Square Park at 4 p.m. on Friday, Aug. 4. Cenat’s tweets leading up to the event have since been deleted. By 3 p.m., thousands of fans were already in the area to the point where police reported that they were blocking streets and pedestrian walkways.

Police told the New York Times that the majority of the crowd was peaceful, but some groups started getting rowdy, especially after 4 p.m. when the giveaway still hadn’t started yet.

That’s when people in the crowd started to throw things at one another and set off fireworks. One group allegedly stormed a construction site, while another pushed back against the police officers who were called in to make arrests.

In total, 65 people were arrested during the incident, which ended around 6 p.m. One viral clip from the incident shows pic.twitter.com/cMiAFEhPt3

— Dexerto (@Dexerto) August 5, 2023 “>a police officer allegedly pushing a fan’s face into a taxicab’s rear windshield during an arrest.

The Times also reported that people started a “Black Lives Matter” chant as police attempted to control the crowd. Groups of people stole snacks and drinks from a nearby CVS, while others tried to break into a city bus where police were detaining some of the attendees. The Times said more than half of those who were detained on the bus were minors.

First-degree rioting, which Cenat was charged with, is punishable by up to four years in prison and a $5,000 fine in New York. Inciting a riot, which Cenat was also charged with, can result in a one-year prison sentence and a $1,000 fine. Unlawful assembly can be up to three months in prison or a $500 fine.

It’s still not clear whether Cenat or Fanum actually gave anything away at the event.

How did Kai Cenat react to the riot?

Cenat uploaded a video titled “Kai Cenat Shuts Down New York City” on Friday to one of his secondary YouTube channels. While it’s not clear when the video was filmed, Cenat introduces the video by saying he knows there’s a lot of people waiting for him, but “we’re not gonna do nothing until it’s safe.”

The video also edits in footage from news channel helicopters that filmed the growing crowds around Union Square.

The YouTube group Any Means Possible (AMP), of which Cenat and Fanum are members, apologized for the event in a statement saying, “We are deeply disheartened by the outbreak of disorderly conduct that affected innocent people and businesses, and do not condone that behavior.

“Yesterday members of AMP hoped to create a positive experience for fans and give back as a show of appreciation for their support,” the group’s statement continued. “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.”

This is not Cenat’s first brush with controversy. He’s been banned from Twitch several times for breaking its rules, including showing explicit imagery, threatening users and streaming under the influence.

Cenat started posting on YouTube and the now-defunct Vine in 2018 when he was in high school and quickly grew a substantial audience, mostly of young viewers. United Talent Agency (UTA) announced in February that it would begin representing the streamer. UTA has not commented on the riot yet.

“Listen, we’re not against young people having a good time. We’re not against young people gathering,” Chief Jeffrey Maddrey of the New York Police Department said on Friday. “But it can’t be to this level where it’s dangerous. A lot of people got hurt.”

Viral social media moments can cause real-life crowd control issues

Cenat’s Union Square event is getting compared to Tanacon, which was YouTuber Tana Mongeau’s alt-VidCon event from 2018. New York magazine described it at the time as “a Fyre Festival for the YouTube set” and a “mouth to hell.”

Tens of thousands of Mongeau’s over 5 million YouTube subscribers showed up at a venue that could only accommodate 5,000 people. Fans waited for hours in various ticket lines and never went in. The event ended up being canceled “for safety concerns” before it even started.

It’s not just creators either. In May 2021, a 17-year-old named Adrian inadvertently wreaked havoc in Huntington Beach, Calif., after creating a hashtag for his birthday party that went viral on TikTok.

“Adrian’s Kickback” attracted an estimated 2,500 people. Police ended up arresting 121 adults and 28 minors on charges that included vandalism, curfew violations and setting off illegal fireworks. Attendees also allegedly were caught throwing rocks, bottles and fireworks at officers who had been called to the scene.

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