Influencer Kai Cenat, accused of causing a riot after thousands of young people descended on Union Square in New York on Friday, is being prosecuted for rebellion, incitement to insurrection and unlawful assembly, the department announced on Saturday (August 5th). NYPD. Four other people are also being prosecuted.
According to American media, the famous 21-year-old streamer and content creator, who is as popular on YouTube (4.1 million subscribers) as on the Twitch broadcasting platform (6.5 million followers), has been the origin, on Friday, of the gathering of nearly 5,000 young people.
Kai Cenat had called on his fans to meet him in Union Square, in lower Manhattan, for an event filmed live. He had promised to distribute gifts, such as free video game consoles. About a thousand officers were deployed to contain the crowd.
“It was out of control”
The rally provoked in Manhattan degenerated into violence, during which several people were injured, according to the New York police. As the place filled with people, some young people began to throw objects from a nearby construction site towards other participants or the police. The televisions also showed individuals circling and blocking vehicles, climbing on the roof of a car…
“I’ve personally seen young people walking around bleeding from the head and face, I’ve seen young people with panic attacks, anxiety attacks and asthma (…) It was out of control,” said said New York City Police Chief Jeffrey Maddrey during a very brief press briefing in the neighborhood. “It took us a while to regain control and a lot of young people were injured,” the police officer lamented.