2023 Union Square riot

On August 4, 2023, at around 3:30 p.m. local time, a Twitch streamer, named Kai Cenat started a giveaway event in Union Square, New York City, without a permit. He had posted many announcements a few days before, saying that his partners Fanum, Duke Dennis, and Agent00 would be with him. Anyone who could answer questions related to YouTube and live streaming would be given a prize. The event, which thousands of participants came to Union Square Park, became a riot. Social media posts about it spread quickly. During the riot, seven people were injured, and 65 people, including 30 minors, were arrested. Nearby subways and stores closed during the incident.

Cenat was taken by the New York City Police Department during the riot and charged with starting a riot and being part of an illegal gathering. These charges were later dropped by the Manhattan district attorney's office once he paid $55,000 to cover damages. He went to court on August 16 and 18. His business partners at Any Means Possible apologized for the riot. Cenat also apologized in a live stream on August 9. The event led to discussion and debate in media outlets like NPR and Wired about the influence of internet personalities.

Kai Cenat is an American live streamer and YouTuber.^[1] He went to Frederick Douglass Academy in New York City and later attended the State University of New York at Morrisville.^[2] In 2020, he joined a group of internet creators called Any Means Possible (AMP). A year later, he became popular after live-streaming with famous rappers like Drake, 21 Savage, and Lil Uzi Vert.^[3]

In February 2023, the United Talent Agency signed him to represent him during a "subathon", which is a continuous live stream where each new subscriber adds time to a countdown clock.^[4][5] By the end of that stream, he broke Twitch's record with 300,000 subscribers.^[3] By August 2023, he had a total of 11.1 million followers across YouTube and Twitch.^[6]

Just before August 4, 2023, Kai said he would give away PlayStation 5 consoles at 4 p.m. local time in Union Square near 14th Street. He planned to be there with three other AMP members, Fanum, Duke Dennis, and Agent00.^[7][8] On August 2, during a live stream, he also said he would hand out gift cards, headphones, gaming chairs, computers, webcams, keyboards, and microphones to people who answered questions correctly about YouTube and streaming. He called this "get off the streets and go stream".^[9] The video got two million views.^[10] Even though he did not have a permit for a large gathering at Union Square, he announced on Twitter that he would live‐stream the event starting at 3:30 p.m.^[11][12][9]

By 3 p.m. local time on August 4, 2023, a large crowd had gathered in Union Square.^[10][13] New York City Police Department (NYPD) noticed people coming in from all directions.^[14][15] The NYPD were sent to the area. Some people knocked down barriers and started pushing against the police. A few climbed on a small bandstand, on nearby cars, and even onto a statue of George Washington.^[16] Others threw bottles at officers and smashed car windows.^[17] Videos and posts about the riot began spreading on social media.^[18] Some people carried shovels and axes they found at a construction site, and others set off fireworks.^[9] A news helicopter saw a man spraying people with a fire extinguisher.^[19]

About 1,000 officers were called in to control the scene.^[20] The Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) had subway trains stopped skipping the 14th Street–Union Square station so no one could ride there. Nearby stores like Best Buy and an eyeglass shop early, and the farmers' market shut down.^[a] Around two thousand people were at the event.^[21] Cenat pulled up in a black SUV^[22] during a live broadcast. He handed out $100 gift cards^[14] and said the police were using tear gas.^[23] Crowds pushed toward his car.^[24] The NYPD pushed people north.^[8] Around 5 p.m. local time, Cenat walked away and left the police station after being charged with starting a riot and being part of an illegal gathering.^[b] By 5:30 p.m. local time, fewer people remained. The police blocked all entrances to Union Square.^[10][17] In a live stream from a police car, Cenat told everyone to go home.^[18]

The NYPD said that seven people were injured, including three officers.^[26][10][28] One witness said they had trouble breathing because of the crowd.^[29] Maddrey also said that a 17-year-old was injured by a large firecracker.^[26] The police put 65 people into a city bus.^[24] Some onlookers tried to attack the bus to free those inside.^[26][30] Among those arrested were 30 minors.^[31]

At a press conference, Maddrey said he would review what happened and make sure it does not happen again.^[20] New York City Mayor Eric Adams thanked the police for their "quick work" in stopping the crowd.^[31] On August 5, Cenat's streaming group AMP apologized for the riot.^[32] On August 9, Cenat went live for the first time after the riot, holding up a New York Daily News issue, apologizing, and said he would take a break from streaming.^[33][34] He also said he was "very disappointed in anyone who caused trouble that day".^[24][25]

The incident became an Internet meme. Rapper Offset spoke out against the police for arresting Cenat.^[35] Cenat went to court on August 16 and again on August 18,^[36][37] after being released on August 4.^[38] On May 21, 2024, the Manhattan District Attorney's office said Cenat would not face any charges for the riot. They claimed that he had already paid $55,000 to a local group called the Union Square Partnership to cover damages.^[39] Two others involved, Denzel Dennis (Duke Dennis) and Din Muktar (Agent00), each paid $1,049.50. Altogether, they paid $57,099 for the damage and work caused by the riot. The District Attorney's office closed the case on May 22, 2024.^[40][41]

After the event, Mayor Adams said that "children cannot be raised by social media",^[36] while reseacher Megan Moreno said in an NPR interview that the incident showed how much people can get emotionally attached to online personalities.^[42] In a Wired article, University of Sydney digital culture lecturer Mark Johnson said that social media like Twitch affects how streamers and their fans connect. Johnson said it was an example of "emergent behavior", where people move from online actions to real-life actions.^[43] The article also said Cenat was "the first Twitch streamer to be charged with starting a riot".^[43]

Writing for Psychology Today, Pamela B. Rutledge said: "Young people can be unpredictable and do not always think ahead. It is not surprising that an unplanned crowd of teens turned wild, even ugly". She also said Mayor Adams' response was more political than realistic, since the problem was not just about parenting but also about people not understanding the internet well.^[44] Bailey Calfee of PRWeek said the riot happened partly because there was no proper planning for an in-person event.^[45] In a New York Times article, Keith Dorsey, founder and chief executive of Atlanta-based Young Guns Entertainment, said Cenat's team should talk to authorities before hosting events like this again, and he guessed Cenat most likely did not know that the event was going to end up in a disaster.^[2]