YouTuber Kai Cenat facing charges after game console giveaway sparks chaos in New York, with 65 arrests

Thousands of people gathered in Manhattan's Union Square for the event organised by popular Twitch streamer and YouTube content creator Kai Cenat. Chaos erupted as people climbed on vehicles, hurled objects, threw punches and scaled structures in a park.

Saturday 5 August 2023 05:31, UK

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A YouTuber's game console giveaway has sparked chaotic scenes in Manhattan's Union Square.

Detectives are planning to charge Kai Cenat with inciting a riot - and the police say 65 arrests were made.

Thousands of people had gathered on Friday afternoon for a much-hyped event organised by the popular Twitch streamer and content creator.

The giveaway was expected to include PlayStation 5 consoles and a computer for livestreaming.

Video footage from the scene showed chaos erupting - with people hurling objects, throwing punches, scaling structures in a park and pushing over barriers.

People were also filmed running through the streets, climbing on top of a moving car and pounding the side of a city bus.

A number of people were also injured, including a police officer who broke a hand. Four people were taken away in ambulances.

Of those arrested, 30 of them were young people.

Skylark Jones, 19, and a friend had come to the area to try and meet the influencer. They said when they arrived at the scene it was already packed, with bottles being thrown in the crowd.

"It was a movie," Mr Jones said. "[Police] came with riot shields, charging at people."

Another man who gave his name as Angel said he feared that he could not breathe when in the crowd.

Cenat was removed from the event "for his own safety" after emerging from a vehicle displaying gift cards he planned to give away.

Police advised people to stay clear of the area.

More than 1,000 officers were called to attend the scene, NBC reported.

NYPD chief Jeffrey Maddrey said: "We have encountered things like this before but never to this level of dangerousness.

"We're not against young people having a good time, we're not against young people gathering. But it can't be to this level where it's dangerous. A lot of people got hurt today."

Many trains on the subway were also avoiding the Union Square stop in both directions due to "activity at that station".

The 21-year-old has millions of followers on social media - including 6.5 million followers on Twitter alone - and promoted the event with an image on Twitter.

His YouTube videos, which have amassed more than 276 million views, range from videos of his daily life to comedy vlogs.

His most recent was titled I Rented Us Girlfriends In Japan!