The raffle of several PS5s organized by an influencer causes chaos in New York

2023-08-05 11:16:05

He ‘streamer’ Kai Cenat has been accused of incite a riot and call an unlawful meeting after he announced on Friday a raffle at Union Square Park in NY in which attendees could receive a free console.

The event managed to bring together almost 2,000 young people that they even committed “acts of violence against the Police” and the people of the area when the ‘streamer’ arrived at the park, according to the head of the New York Police Department, Jeffrey Maddrey.

Cenat, who has more than 15 million followers between his YouTube, Instagram and Twitch profilesannounced on the latter platform a free raffle in Union Square Park where he would distribute several free PlayStation 5 consoles together with another ‘streamer’.

Maddrey explained that attendance at the park was exponential and that what at first was a gathering of just 300 young people soon became a mass of about 2,000 people who wanted to receive free consoles, keyboards, headsets or chairs.

Such was the level of agglomeration that the New York Police was forced to apply the level four response protocol, the highest level to deal with disasters, according to the CNN news network.

Cenat has had to be evacuated from the place for “security reasons”, while the New York Police have arrested 65 people, including thirty minors. Some young people and police officers have been injured.

As the chaos has unfolded, a vehicle that was trying to escape in which Cenat is believed to have been traveling, since the crowd has begun to harass it, reaching some to grab the sides of it while it accelerated. At least three people have fallen to the ground as the vehicle sped away.

Cenat was taken into police custody for questioning around 3:00 p.m. (local time) as he I did not have permission for that eventas reported by CBS.

According to witnesses, at the scene people could be seen throwing water bottles, basketballs, fireworks and even a computer into the streets and a group of young people pushed riot police when they tried to enter to make arrests. .