2023 Union Square Riot

On August 4, 2023, at approximately 3:30 p.m., American Internet personality Kai Cenat held an event—supposedly a giveaway of gaming-related items in New York City's Union Square—without a permit. He had posted several announcements a few days prior, stating that his partners Fanum, Duke Dennis, and Agent00 would be with him. Anyone who could adequately answer questions related to YouTube and live streaming would be given a prize. The event, which drew thousands of participants to Union Square Park, became a riot. Social media posts of the event surfaced around the same time. During the riot, 7 people were injured, and 65 people, including 30 minors, were arrested. The neighborhood's subway station and surrounding stores closed during the incident.

Cenat was taken into police custody by the New York City Police Department during the riot and was charged with inciting a riot and unlawful assembly. These charges were dropped by the Manhattan district attorney's office once he paid $55,000 in restitution. He appeared in 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 incident led to discussion and debate in several publications, such as NPR and ''Wired'', about the influence of Internet personalities.

Background

Kai Cenat is an American live streamer and YouTuber. He attended Frederick Douglass Academy and the State University of New York at Morrisville. Cenat joined a group of Internet personalities called Any Means Possible (AMP) in 2020. The following year he gained popularity after producing a series of live streams with Drake, 21 Savage, and Lil Uzi Vert. In February 2023, the United Talent Agency announced they would represent Cenat during his subathon (a continuous live stream in which a new subscriber extends a descending timer). At the end of the live stream, he had amassed 300,000 Twitch subscribers, a record for the platform. As of August 2023, Cenat had a cumulative 11.1 million followers across YouTube and Twitch.

In the days preceding the August 4 gathering, Cenat announced that he would give away PlayStation 5 consoles at 4p.m. in Union Square along 14th Street, where he would be joined by Fanum, Duke Dennis, and Agent00, three Twitch streamers. All four men are members of AMP. In a live stream on August 2, Cenat claimed that he would give away gift cards, headphones, gaming chairs, computers, webcams, keyboards, and microphones to attendees who could correctly answer questions about YouTube and live streaming. He called this "get off the streets and go stream". The video was viewed two million times. Despite not having secured a permit for a gathering at Union Square, Cenat posted on Twitter that he would be live streaming the event at 3:30p.m.

Union Square riot

By 3 p.m. on August 4, 2023, a large crowd—including many people who were drawn to the event—had gathered in Union Square. The New York City Police Department (NYPD) became aware of the gathering as dozens of people began converging. The NYPD had mobilized officers to the area. The crowd took down barriers and conflict broke out between police and members of the crowd. Some people climbed on a gazebo, vehicles, and a statue of George Washington, while some threw bottles at police officers and other objects at car windows. Social media posts of the riot surfaced at the same time. According to the NYPD, individuals walked around with shovels and axes taken from a nearby construction site, while others lit fireworks. A CBS New York helicopter captured a man discharging a fire extinguisher on a crowd of people.

The NYPD called on an estimated 1,000 officers to respond. The Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) had subway trains bypass the 14th Street–Union Square station. A nearby Best Buy, an eyeglass shop, and the Union Square Greenmarket closed early. At least two thousand people came to the event. Cenat appeared in a black SUV on a live stream with gift cards worth $100 each and claimed that police were throwing tear gas. Seconds later, he exited the SUV and was swarmed by fans. The NYPD pushed the crowd north. At approximately 5:00 p.m., Cenat was released on his own accord after being charged with inciting a riot and unlawful assembly. By 5:30 p.m. the number of participants had begun to decrease with the police eventually blocking the entrances to Union Square. In an Instagram live stream from a police car, Cenat told the crowd to go home.

Seven people were injured, including three officers, according to the NYPD. A witness reported fearing breathing problems within the crowd. Maddrey also reported that a 17-year-old was wounded by a large firecracker. Police filled an MTA bus with detainees; 65 people at the event were arrested, including 30 juveniles. The bus was attacked by other people attempting to free those on board.

Aftermath

At a press conference, Maddrey stated: "When I go back later on this evening, I will have an after-action determine exactly what our steps were. We can't allow this to happen again in the future". New York City Mayor Eric Adams praised police for their "quick work" in dispersing the crowd. In a statement on August 5, Cenat's streaming group AMP apologized for the riot. On August 9, Cenat made his first public appearance after the riot in a live stream, holding up a ''New York Daily News'' issue, apologizing, and announcing that he would take a break from live streaming. He said that he was "beyond disappointed in anybody who became destructive that day".

The incident became an Internet meme. Rapper Offset criticized the police for arresting Cenat. Cenat appeared in court on August 16, following his release from police custody on August 4. He appeared in court again on August 18. On May 21, 2024, the Manhattan District Attorney's office announced that Cenat would not face any charges for the riot. They claimed that he had already paid $55,000 in restitution to the Union Square Partnership, the neighborhood's nonprofit organization for economic development. Denzel Dennis (Duke Dennis) and Din Muktar (Agent00), two other people connected to the incident, each paid $1,049.50 to the group. The combined amount of $57,099 was meant to compensate for damage and staff hours needed in the riot's aftermath. The District Attorney's office dismissed the case on May 22, 2024.

Analysis

Following the event, Mayor Adams stated in a press briefing that "children cannot be raised by social media", while researcher Megan Moreno stated in an NPR interview that the incident "does speak to how much investment people can place within these parasocial relationships". In a ''Wired'' article comparing the event to similar Internet-based incidents, University of Sydney digital culture lecturer Mark Johnson opined on the effect of social media (such as the interactivity of Twitch) on the relationships between streamers and their fans. Johnson described the occurrence as an example of "emergent behavior", where Internet users transition from interacting online to entering the real world. The article also claimed that Cenat was "the first Twitch streamer to be charged with inciting a riot".

Writing for ''Psychology Today'', Pamela B. Rutledge stated: "Young people are volatile and not forward-thinking. It is not surprising that an unplanned crowd of teens turned unruly, even ugly." She felt that the response from Mayor Adams was more political and less realistic, as the rioting crowd's actions were not just a parenting issue, but an issue that also stemmed from digital illiteracy. Bailey Calfee of ''PRWeek'' noted that a lack of prior planning and the risks of running an in-person event contributed to the riot. In a ''New York Times'' article, Keith Dorsey, founder and chief executive of Atlanta-based Young Guns Entertainment, stated that Cenat's management team should try to discuss with authorities the next time he organizes an event. He speculated that Cenat most likely did not know that the event was going to end up in a disaster.

Notes

References

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Riots and civil disorder in New York City