Social media influencer Kai Cenat has been charged with inciting a riot after he announced a giveaway of video game consoles that drew thousands of people to a New York City park on Friday and sparked violent clashes with police.
Jeffrey Maddrey, the New York police department's highest-ranking uniformed officer, told a news conference late on Friday 65 people were arrested, including 30 juveniles, and several police officers and civilians were injured in the melee at Union Square park.
Some in the crowd threw projectiles at police, climbed onto the roof of a subway entrance and jumped on top of cars.
Cenat, best known for his live streams on the gaming site Twitch and YouTube videos, was also charged with unlawful assembly, Maddrey said.
WATCH | Riots break out in New York over influencer’s Playstation giveaway
Social media influencer Kai Cenat has been charged with inciting a riot after he announced a giveaway of video game consoles that drew thousands of people to a New York City park on Friday and sparked violent clashes with police.
Jeffrey Maddrey, the New York police department's highest-ranking uniformed officer, told a news conference late on Friday 65 people were arrested, including 30 juveniles, and several police officers and civilians were injured in the melee at Union Square park.
Some in the crowd threw projectiles at police, climbed onto the roof of a subway entrance and jumped on top of cars.
Cenat, best known for his live streams on the gaming site Twitch and YouTube videos, was also charged with unlawful assembly, Maddrey said.
Image: REUTERS/David 'Dee' Delgado
He said the crowd started to calm down when police officers evacuated Cenat from the park.
In a video posted on Thursday, Cenat told his followers the giveaway would include computers and Playstation 5 consoles.
Cenat, 21, has 6.5-million followers on Twitch and 4-million subscribers on YouTube. He was named "Streamer of the Year" at the 2022 Streamy Awards.
Reuters
Image: REUTERS/David 'Dee' Delgado
Image: REUTERS/David 'Dee' Delgado
Image: REUTERS/David 'Dee' Delgado
Image: REUTERS/David 'Dee' Delgado
Image: DAVID DEE DELGADO
Image: REUTERS/David 'Dee' Delgado
Image: REUTERS/David 'Dee' Delgado
Image: REUTERS/David 'Dee' Delgado
Image: REUTERS/David 'Dee' Delgado
Image: REUTERS/David 'Dee' Delgado
Image: REUTERS/David 'Dee' Delgado
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