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An Onion Among Onions
A crowd of several hundred people filled the park Friday afternoon for what was billed as an event from popular Twitch stream and YouTube creator Kai Cenat. The "HUGE GIVEAWAY," which promised free PlayStation consoles, was scheduled for 4 p.m., but hundreds had already filled the square by 3 p.m.
What exactly sparked the crowd to turn unruly isn't yet clear, but by 3:30 p.m. people were seen throwing garbage at police and taking down barriers around the perimeter.
The NYPD estimates a "couple thousand people" were in Union Square around 4 p.m. The department issued its highest mobilization level, according to a spokesperson, with a call for more than one thousand officers to respond to the escalating situation.
The chaos was far from contained to just the plaza. The size of the crowd extended into multiple streets, blocking E 14th Street and Broadway directly south of Union Square.
Cenat was eventually pulled out from the massive crowd by police officers and placed into custody. A spokesperson confirmed police arrested the influencer and "numerous" other people in the crowd.
