NEW YORK (1010 WINS/WCBS 880) – Twitch influencer and YouTuber Kai Cenat won’t be prosecuted for the PlayStation 5 giveaway riot that rocked the Union Square area last August, the Manhattan D.A.’s Office said Tuesday.
D.A. Alvin Bragg’s office declined to prosecute Cenat after he paid $55,000 in restitution to the Union Square Partnership, Inc., posted a public apology to Snapchat, and avoided arrest since the chaotic incident on Aug. 4.
In the apology, Cenat wrote in part that the giveaway led to an “unsafe situation for the people who live and work in the neighborhood, first responders, and my followers that attended the event.”
“I am from NY and would never want to see the city turned upside down due to unwanted, irresponsible and dangerous behavior," Cenat continued. “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 thought more about the post before I announced it. 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.”
The restitution Cenat paid covers the landscaping damage and additional staff hours needed for the cleanup, the D.A. said.
The case will be dismissed after the apology has remained up for 24 hours.
Two others—Denzel Dennis and Muktar Din—will also avoid prosecution for their involvement after they each paid just over $1,000 in restitution.
Cenat, 22, was arrested on charges of inciting a riot and promoting an unlawful gathering after the impromptu giveaway led to thousands of young people, many of them teens, descending on the Union Square area.
The Friday afternoon event caused chaos, with people jumping on cars, hurling bottles and paint cans, throwing punches and going at it with NYPD officers.
The NYPD arrested 65 people, including 30 juveniles, during the incident and searched for dozens more in the weeks that followed.
Cenat posted an apology to social media days later, saying he was “beyond disappointed.”
In his most recent apology, the Bronx native, who now lives in Atlanta, wrote: “It was never my intent for it to get so out of hand, and I have learned a very valuable lesson that social media is a very powerful tool to do good, but it can also cause dangerous unwanted situations if it is not used properly. I know the Mayor, District Attorney Alvin Bragg and the New York Police Department are looking out for the safety of the citizens of NYC, and I want to thank them for their dedicated hard work.”
Cenat is one of the most followed people on Twitch, with more than 10 million followers. He also has more than 5.5 million YouTube subscribers.
