NYC Dr. Martens, Nordstrom Rack Stores Shut Down After Popular Influencer Sparks ‘Acts of Violence’

Several New York City stores shut down Friday afternoon after crowds who descended on Union Square for a popular Twitch streamer’s giveaway erupted into “acts of violence,” according to police.

New York Police Department officers swarmed the Manhattan park after YouTuber, rapper and Twitch influencer Kai Cenat’s social media post promising gaming tech giveaways went viral around 3 p.m. and “thousands” of people quickly filled the 2.6-acre plaza, NYPD chief Jeffrey Maddrey said at a press conference.

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The arrival at Union Square of Cenat, who in February became the Amazon-owned gaming platform’s most-followed streamer with nearly 6.5 million fans but in April said he was banned from the site, sparked mass chaos with many gatherers committing “acts of violence towards the police and public,” according to Maddrey, who cited people throwing paint cans, “walking around with shovels and axes” taken from nearby construction sites, and “lighting fireworks” thrown at law enforcement.

NYPD declared the event an “unlawful assembly,” took Cenat into custody and made an unknown number of arrests while dispersing the crowd who left Union Square littered with debris. Police are considering whether to bring charges against the 21-year-old.

Many stores flanking Union Square locked up in response to the riot and police presence. A Nordstrom Rack store representative reached Friday evening confirmed the location had shuttered for an hour and half but reopened by 6:30 p.m.

A sign plastered to the front door of a Dr. Martens store on Broadway near 18th Street said the location “closed early due to unexpected activity in the park.” The Burlington off-price store above 14th Street also was inaccessible and police turned away a customer trying to shop the Whole Foods store down the block. A nearby Vans store also appeared to be unavailable prior to its stated closing hour of 9 p.m.

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Maddrey said the “spontaneous” riot illustrates how quickly people spread information on the internet.

“This speaks to the power of social media and the danger of social media,” he said, adding, “we can’t allow this to happen again.”

The incident is the latest blow to the city’s commerce sector, where crime has plagued stores high and low. New York City officials recently unveiled a plan to attack shoplifting in the wake of a 45 percent year-on-year increase in retail theft complaints.

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