Kai Cenat charged with inciting a riot after NYC giveaway goes awry
Kai Cenat | TwitchKai Cenat held a meetup over the summer that accidentally turned into a riot – and now, the streamers says he’s facing seven days in prison.
Kai Cenat announced he’d be doing a giveaway in New York City during an IRL livestream, but the scene quickly turned to chaos as thousands of fans showed up. Kai Cenat has since been charged with inciting a riot.
Kai Cenat is one of Twitch’s biggest streamers. A mix of celebrity cameos on stream, a massive subathon, and huge livestream events like his fourth of July firework war have put him on top of the livestreaming world.
When streaming in front of hundreds and thousands of people, it can be hard to remember what thousands of people gathering in one place actually looks like.
Kai Cenat announced he’d be doing an IRL stream in New York City, prompting fans to come out and support him. However, the number of fans that would show up was far greater than he anticipated.
Twitch: KaiCenatKai Cenat giveaway quickly turns into a riot in New York City
Kai severely underestimated how many people would show up to see him. Union Square was entirely flooded with thousands of people trying to meet their favorite streamer.
The livestream was cut short as Kai Cenat tried to wade through the crowd of fans that quickly surrounded him upon walking outside. His security detail began escorting him away from the crowd immediately.
The stream went back up a short time after it was interrupted, only for Kai to be lost in a sea of people. Locals began to take note, and it was quickly covered by news outlets in the area.
Kai Cenat’s fans pushed each other to try and get to him, creating a massive mob all trying to meet the streamer. It’s important to note that Kai simply planned a giveaway and fan meetup, and didn’t make any direct effort to incite a riot or provoke his fans; he simply tweeted that he’d be in New York City giving away some free stuff.
Since the mob formed, Kai has deleted all prior tweets mentioning the NYC meetup.
Duke, one of Kai Cenat’s friends and a fellow content creator, was filmed being detained by police officers.
Fans of his could be seen clinging to the car that Kai Cenat was allegedly driving away in, and the vehicle didn’t stop despite several people hanging onto the car. People could be seen falling off as the car sped away.
Kai Cenat has since been arrested in connection to the events following his IRL stream and charged with unlawful assembly, inciting a riot, and other charges that haven’t yet been specified according to NYPD Chief of Department Jeffery Maddrey.
NYPD press charges against Kai Cenat for inciting a riot
NYPD Chief Maddrey took questions from the media during a press conference directly after the incident. When asked if “any kind of action would be taken” against Kai Cenat regarding the ordeal, the officer claimed that something would “absolutely” be done.
“Absolutely,” the officer answered. “We’re in contact with the influencer. I have our legal team here. I’m going to have a discussion with our commissioner… and then we’ll make a decision there.”
The officer has since confirmed that they’ll be pressing charges against Kai Cenat, specifically in regards to unlawful gathering and inciting a riot. That said, he didn’t rule out other charges being pressed against the streamer.
According to reports from FOX news, police have made “quite a few” arrests at the riot..
Kai Cenat has since been released from custody but has yet to comment on the events that transpired during his giveaway.
Meanwhile, footage has since been released of him carrying a child to safety and helping several of his fans amid the chaos. Though he’s received a great deal of criticism for the way this event was handled, many of Kai Cenat’s followers still hold him in high regard.
