In New York, an influencer provokes a rally that degenerates
A New York influencer sparked a surprise rally of around 2,000 young people in Manhattan on Friday afternoon that escalated into street violence and injured people.
Updated5 August 2023, 03:30
Police attempt to respond to crowd disturbances at an event hosted by famed streamer Kai Cenat in Union Square, New York, Aug. 4, 2023.
Getty Images via AFP
It all started on Friday with a call, on Instagram, from 21-year-old African-American streamer Kai Cenat to meet him in lower Manhattan for a distribution, broadcast live on social networks, of gifts, including PlayStation game consoles. 5.
Kai Cenat at the YouTube Streamy Awards in Beverly Hills, California on December 4, 2022.
Getty Images via AFP
Thousands of young people – at least 2000 according to American television – then gathered very quickly in the Union Square district, in the south of the island of Manhattan, in the hope of seeing their star Kai Cenat, who has millions of subscribers on its Twitch, YouTube and Instagram platforms and social accounts.
Suddenly and, apparently for no reason, young men started throwing projectiles from a nearby construction site, targeting other people and the police, who were rapidly deployed in large numbers. Televisions also showed individuals surrounding and blocking vehicles and climbing onto the roof of a black SUV.
Arrests
“I personally saw young people walking bleeding from the head and face, I saw young people with panic attacks, anxiety and asthma (…) It was out of control”, has said current New York City Police (NYPD) Chief Jeffrey Maddrey, during a very brief news briefing in the neighborhood.
“It took us a while to regain control and a lot of young people were injured,” the police officer said. At the end of the day, a thousand police officers had managed to disperse the rally.
Jeffrey Maddrey clarified that several people had been arrested and that Kai Cenat had been taken to be questioned at a police station but without being formally taken into custody for the moment.
(AFP)Show comments
2023-08-05 01:30:53
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