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NEW YORK — Charges of inciting a riot will be dropped against online streamer Kai Cenat after he agreed to pay restitution and apologize for luring thousands of fans to New York’s Union Square last year, prosecutors said.
Cenat, 22, and two codefendants agreed to pay more than $57,000 in restitution and apologize on social media for the Aug. 4 mayhem that followed Cenat’s announcement he would be there giving away video game consoles and other electronic devices, the Manhattan district attorney’s office said Tuesday.
After Cenat, who has millions of followers on Twitch, YouTube and other platforms, announced the giveaway, the teenage fans who showed up bashed car windows, climbed on buses, threw paint cans, and set off fire extinguishers. Scores of people were arrested and at least four were taken to hospitals with injuries.
Cenat apologized on Snapchat on Tuesday for “the disruption and damage to the community, the park, the vehicles, and the storefronts in the area.”
The streamer, who was born and raised in New York City, posted, “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.”
Cenat faced charges of inciting a riot and promoting an unlawful gathering. M’Niyah Lynn, a spokesperson for Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, said the case would be officially dismissed after the Snapchat apology was up for 24 hours. Cenat’s codefendants were also required to post the apology, as well as pay roughly $1,000 each, Lynn said.
Cenat was required to pay $55,000 to the Union Square Partnership to cover cleanup and landscaping repair costs.
Cenat had already apologized for the chaos days later.
“Beyond disappointed in anybody who became disruptive that day, bro,” Cenat said on Twitch.
Cenat said he had watched videos of people jumping on cars “and I’m asking myself when I’m watching the video, ‘Why? Like, why?’ You feel what I’m saying?”