On Friday, Aug. 4, popular Twitch streamer Kai Cenat was at the center of a massive gathering in New York, leading to his arrest by the New York City Police Department.
The 21-year-old content creator was seen in Union Square as thousands of fans descended into the area, causing police to converge to control the situation as pandemonium started to swirl. People began to cause chaos in the streets, causing damage to vehicles and other buildings in the area, along with altercations with officers.
With the crowd picking up in excitement and unruliness, this prompted “the highest level of police mobilization,” and Cenat was placed into custody.
Why was Kai Cenat arrested?
Kai Cenat was taken into custody by NYPD, and according to a spokesperson, now faces charges for inciting a riot, unlawful assembly “and a few other charges” from NYPD Chief of Department Jeffrey Maddrey.
Related: Kai Cenat taken into custody after PS5 giveaway in NYC causes riot
A few days before the gathering took place, Cenat announced to his followers that he and a few other members of his streaming group, AMP, would be heading out to Union Square to meet fans and give away a collection of different goodies, such as PlayStation 5 consoles and gift cards.
What wasn’t expected was that thousands of people would show up, blocking nearby streets, climbing cars, light poles, and hot dog stands. There are several videos of fans jumping and breaking car windows and police apprehending fans as the entire group finally began to separate.
Police warned fans to stay clear of Union Square as they tried to disperse the massive crowd, which eventually took about two hours to complete. Eventually, the full extent of the event could be taken in, and cleanup efforts were underway.
Who is Kai Cenat?
Kai Cenat is a popular Twitch streamer known for broadcasting his everyday life while living at the AMP House alongside other popular content creators like Agent 00, Duke Dennis, and JustFanum. He has claimed several awards and records during his career, including the Streamer of the Year award at the 2022 Streamy Awards. He also currently has the most active subscribers on Twitch, and broke the platform’s subscription record this past February when he hit a whopping 306,621 subs.