Twitch streamers Kai Cenat and fanum invited viewers to union square on friday for live streaming and a giveaway. They promised to give away gift cards for gaming PC equipment, gaming consoles and PlayStation 5s.
However, the IRL stream became chaotic as fans in a frenzy gathered over the contest, causing the closure of the lower part of Manhattan following the event.
Cenat, the host, with 6.5 million Twitch fans as well as 4 million users on YouTube and 4 million YouTube subscribers, promoted his participation in the New York City giveaway in deleted tweets. Cenat collaborated with Fanum, with 1.3 million fans on Twitch and 1.2 million followers on YouTube. The broadcast was scheduled for 4:45 pm on a Friday.
At 1:10 pm, police responded to a “large crowd” within the park, according to an official from the New York Police Department spokesperson informed TechCrunch. The spokesperson claimed that “a few thousand people” packed into the area. At around 3:30, photos of the incident began to flood social media. Fighting broke out as the crowd climbed on vehicles and threw traffic cones.
Cenat’s live stream has been cut off. A video posted on the Twitch channel demonstrates the crowd pushing into one another.
The NYPD spokesperson reported that about 1,000 officers were sent to the area, and there were no injuries at the time of writing. Cenat was escorted away from the crowd and brought into police custody. NBC New York reports. However, the NYPD spokesperson could not confirm the arrests of other people to TechCrunch.
The spokesperson said the situation “may be changed” because the NYPD cannot provide a “concrete number” until later this evening or the next morning. The online videos claim that other videos’ creators were taken into custody during the riot.
Cenat briefly broadcast live via Instagram in a police car and urged the crowd to leave.
The NYPD recommended New Yorkers stay clear of Union Square Park and the nearby areas. “Expect the presence of police in the area, as well as lingering delay in traffic,” the department said in a Twitter post.
The public transportation system was also delayed. In addition, the New York Transit Authority announced that eight subway lines would bypass this stop Union Square stop because of police activity. They also urged commuter to use alternative routes.
Kai Cenat posted and deleted the message he sent to his followers following the events of the riot.
“I cherish all of you to the max. I love you all to the fullest; you are incredible,” he wrote in the now-deleted Instagram story that included the footage from the local press coverage of the protests. “The love from home base is real. Please stay safe.”
