Yesterday (August 4), Kai Cenat was arrested in New York City during a Playstation 5 giveaway. The harmless social media giveback drew thousands of raving fans looking to connect with the popular streamer. This morning (August 5), BBC News reported that the New York City Police Department plan to charge Cenat with multiple counts of inciting a riot and unlawful assembly.
NYPD also claimed that Cenat had no permit to do the giveaway and declared the event a “Level four” mobilization, meaning approximately 1,000 officers were deployed to the scene. The famous Twitch star is out of custody and will await updates on his charges in the following weeks.
Following Cenat’s arrest, multiple rappers supported him on social media. NLE Choppa said, “Y’all don’t even charge the KKK When they do that negative shit but charge a successful black man for giving back. The system so designed for us to fail it doesn’t make sense”! He followed his initial post by saying, “I ain’t saying what he did what’s done correctly, course, it’s something he could’ve done better, but his intentions were pure that’s all that matter, he wanted to help, give back, inspire, and most importantly spread love.”
Offset also posted on social media asserting, “How you lock Kai up for giving back to his fans….New York be tripping”! Shortly after, DDG tweeted, “Free them AMP boys.” Cenat’s team has yet to comment following the arrest.
The event was described as an episode, which began shortly after 3 p.m. and was effectively over by 6 p.m., resulted in 65 arrests (nearly half of them of juveniles); injuries to officers and some of those in the crowd; and damage to food carts, police vehicles, and stores, officials said.
The collaborative event was in tandem with popular YouTuber Fanum. They are both a part of the AMP streaming group.