A streamer and YouTuber who was accused of inciting a riot after a crowd of thousands of his followers erupted in chaos in Manhattan last summer will not face charges for the mayhem that ensued as a result of a giveaway.
The Manhattan district attorney's office said Tuesday night that they would not prosecute 22-year-old social media influencer Kai Cenat for the madness that devolved at Union Square on Aug. 4. Two others, Denzel Dennis and Muktar Din, will also not face prosecution for their roles in the riot that turned violent.
The DA's office said that Cenat had already paid $55,000 in restitution, and the other two had each paid just over $1,000 each as well. Cenat also posted a lengthy apology on his Snapchat account, which would be reposted by Dennis and Din.
"When I promoted a give-away PS5s in Union Square Park it created an unintentional dangerous situation due to the way I promoted and advertised it. The result was an unsafe situation for the people who live and work in the neighborhood, first responders, and my followers that attended the event," the apology read. "I apologize for the disruption and damage to the community, the park, the vehicles, and the storefronts in the area...I apologize to the first responders who had to endure the backlash of this irresponsible promotion and work to restore calm."
He also offered an apology to his followers who went to the event and did not act out, saying it was "never my intent for it to get so out of hand."
The DA's office said the case would be officially dismissed after that apology was on social media for a full 24 hours. Prosecutors also said none of the trio had any new arrests since the incident.
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Thousands of fans of Cenat, who has millions of followers on Twitch, YouTube and other platforms, showed up after Cenat announced that he would be there giving away video game consoles and other electronic devices that afternoon. A crowd of mostly young people packed into the park, with some running running through nearby streets, swinging objects at car windows and climbing on top of buses.
What exactly turned the crowd unruly isn't quite clear, but by 3:30 p.m. people were seen throwing garbage at police and taking down barriers around the perimeter. Witnesses reported seeing others hurling chairs and bottles.
Police said several people — including officers — were injured, including at least four who were taken to hospitals. About 65 people were arrested, nearly half of whom were juveniles. Police estimated crowds swelled to 5,000-6,000 people.
Officers eventually pulled Cenat from the massive crowd, and he was seen speaking to several officials afterward.
Cenat, who grew up in the Bronx but now lives in Atlanta, said he had planned the event as a gift to his hometown.
"I am from NY and would never want to the city turned upside down due to unwanted, irresponsible, and dangerous behavior. I wanted to do something cool and fun for people and did not think it was going to turn into something that caused harm to the city, and I should have though more about the post before I announced it," his apology on Snapchat read. "The actions of some of the people that attended were unacceptable. At no time is it ok to act out physically in situations like this or to destroy property or try to harm people...social media is a very powerful tool to do good, but it can also cause dangerous unwanted situations if it is not used properly."
In a video posted on Twitch about a week after the chaos, Cenat said he was "beyond disappointed" in the bad behavior that occurred. Cenat was upset about what erupted from what he said was supposed to be a fun giveaway.
"I don't condone any of the things that went on," he said in the video, noting how some of his followers jumped on cars and hurled bottles during madness. "None of that is cool, bro, you feel what I'm saying?"
Who is Kai Cenat?
Kai Cenat, who police said organized the giveaway that led to the chaotic scene, is a Twitch streamer and YouTuber who has been making online content since 2018, when he was still in high school. He is known for having a large fanbase, and in February 2023, became the most-subscribed Twitch streamer of all time, with more than 100,000 subscribers.
He’s won awards for his content, which includes videos of him doing various challenges, online pranks and more. In addition to those videos, he gained following for videos where he chatted with viewers on his Twitch channel, which he started in 2021.
While it didn’t appear that the stunt was a prank of any sort, he has done other prank videos like pretending to break his brother’s PlayStation 4 controller, or knocking on neighbors' doors and running away — a video which became his first one to break a million views.
