Twitch streamer Kai Cenat, who has over 5 million followers on social media, unintentionally caused chaos in New York City’s Union Square in downtown Manhattan this afternoon.
Cenat, whose popularity was partly boosted by Lil Baby, allegedly said that he would be in Union Square at 4pm to give away gift cards that could be used to purchase Playstation 5’s. The free giveaway led to literally thousands of people showing up, which forced a level 4 mobilization of the NYPD, who only moments ago were able to find Cenat in the midst of the crowd and free him from the chaos that he created.
Former NYPD Chief, Terry Monahan, told NBC News while the story was breaking that police had made multiple arrests, including the arrest of Kai Cenat.
Many people in the crowd ended up throwing items as numerous fights nearly broke out. Some even ended up on top of food trucks, where multiple were seen throwing water bottles and other items. Some witnesses said they saw people throwing chairs. As of this writing, the crowds are only now beginning to disperse, though multiple fireworks are also going off in the crowd.
The Union Square subway, a major stop in downtown Manhattan where numerous trains lines intersect, was temporarily being bypassed out of the safety of riders, NBC reported.
Thousands of police arrived at Union Square and were able to mostly break the crowds into smaller ones and eventually help maintain some level of order. At present, there are still a significant number of people in Union Square, though much less than it was at the peak of the chaos.
NBC reiterated that Cenat, who popularized Rizz on TikTok, is in custody and that multiple people have been arrested.