PlayStation Riot

Kai Cenat is a 21-year-old black man who is a live streamer on Twitch and is also a YouTuber. He does comedy shows and is the most subscribed Twitch streamer of all time. He was named “Streamer of the Year” at the 12th Streamy Awards and the 2023 Streamer Awards (these are two different things?). Naturally, since I’m a 57-year-old white male, I had never heard of Kai Cenat, the Streamy Awards, or the Streamer Awards, and apparently, there’s been 12 of those things. I’ve also never heard of tens of thousands of people watching a live stream of a person sleeping, which I read Kai has done.

Over the past decade or so, anytime a young person makes the news, unless they’re Taylor Swift, I’ve never heard of them before. The only song I know from Rhianna is “Shut up and Drive” only because it’s in Wreck-It Ralph (I love that movie). The only Katy Perry tune I know is, “Firework” because it was in the Kim Jong Un movie that got Sony hacked. The only reason I’m aware of Ariana Grande is because she made news licking a donut and there was a terrorist attack at one of her shows, probably not over the donut (If I’m not thinking of the same person, then school me in the comments). Don’t ask me the name of any member of BTS. Also, don’t ask me what “BTS” stands for. I’m old and white. I’m still listening to Nirvana and Pearl Jam.

On a side note, I will never be one of those old farts that claim there hasn’t been any good music since insert-year-here. How would I know if good music isn’t being made if I’m not listening to new music? I’m sure there’s lots of great music currently being made, I’m just at that age where I’m stuck in old routines.

But as I already stated, I had never heard of Kai Cenat…that is until today.

Yesterday, Cenat held a PlayStation 5 and gift card giveaway at Union Square in New York City. Thousands of people turned out for this event and it turned into a riot.

At least 66 people have been arrested, including 30 juveniles. There was not a permit for the event and it was not coordinated with the New York Police Department.

Jeffrey Maddrey, the New York Police Department’s highest-ranking uniformed officer said the incident showed the “power of social media, the danger of social media. We went from 300 kids to a couple of thousand kids in minutes. We have to be responsible when we use this tool.”

Hmm, starting a riot through social media? Why does that sound familiar?

Kai Cenat was arrested and charged with inciting a riot, unlawful assembly, and other charges. Did I mention he was arrested? He was arrested on the day of the riot.

There are no reports of Kai telling people to riot, yet he is charged with inciting a riot. Donald Trump was not arrested on the day of the riot on January 6, 2021. Instead, It took until this week for Donald Trump to be charged and arrested for his part in inciting a riot nearly three years ago. Of course, Donald Trump is a former president (sic), a billionaire, and white.

Donald Trump says he never told people to riot and even told them to “walk to the Capitol” peacefully, yet like Kai, he posted on social media for his followers to be there. He tweeted that it would be “wild.” A couple months before on live TV, he told the Proud Boys, a white nationalist terrorist organization, to “stand by.” Guess who showed up at the riot on January 6. Fucking Proud Boys, many of whom are now in prison. In fact, over 1,000 people have been charged for their involvement in the January 6 riot. Until last Tuesday, Trump had not been.

Kai’s followers were looking for PlayStation consoles. Trump’s followers were looking to overturn an election, steal the rights of over 80 million Americans, destroy our democracy, and install a fascist Oompa-Loompa as an unelected dictator. Also, a lot of them shit on the floors in the Capitol building. Did any of Kai’s rioters take a dump in Union Square?

Did anyone die during Kai’s riot? There were injuries but no deaths. One of Trump’s terrorists, Ashli Babbitt, was shot and killed by Capitol Police while she was attacking them. Four officers committed suicide due to trauma from the attack. At least 73 Capitol Police officers and 65 Metropolitan Police officers were wounded with many hospitalized.

What Kia Cenat did was reckless and extremely irresponsible. But remember, he’s only 21. He’s still young and stupid. I do not believe he intended to start a riot but I do believe it’s his fault. I also believe the NYPD did a horrible job with the situation as there’s a video of several cops ramming a young man’s head through a car window.

If Kai is to be arrested and charged, then so should Donald Trump. How are these situations different? Oh yeah. One is white.

Music note: I listened to Los Lobos.

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