Throwing objects, degraded cars, police and injured young people… The rally provoked by content creator Kai Cenat, who promised gifts to his subscribers, degenerated on Friday in Manhattan (New York). The star has been charged with rebellion, incitement to insurrection and unlawful assembly, a New York police spokesman told AFP. Four other people have been charged.
Earlier in the day, the famous Twitch and Youtube streamer had promoted his event on his Instagram story and in a Twitch live. The 21-year-old star called on his fans to join him at Union Square in lower Manhattan for a live event. Cenat promised to give away PlayStation 5 consoles and other freebies.
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“It was out of control”
His call was widely heard. Nearly 5,000 young people moved according to the American media, causing chaos in the streets of Manhattan. But the meeting degenerated as the places filled with people. Some young people threw objects from a nearby building site towards other participants or the police. Televisions also showed individuals surrounding and blocking vehicles and climbing onto the roof of a black SUV.
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Nearly a thousand police officers were deployed to contain the crowd, which injured people. “I have personally seen young people walking around bleeding from the head and face, I have seen young people with panic attacks, anxiety and asthma […] It was out of control”said New York Police Chief (NYPD) 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”lamented the police officer.
Cenat has 6.5 million subscribers on Twitch. He holds the record for the most monthly subscribers on the platform, with more than 300,000 paying viewers in February. As noted by Washington Post, that’s more paying subscribers than most American newspapers. Cenat has been banned several times from Twitch since 2021 for various offenses, the American daily further specifies, in particular the display of explicit images or the threat of other users.
2023-08-06 08:50:55
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