Crowd in the thousands overwhelms New York City’s Union Square, tosses chairs, climbs on vehicles

By BOBBY CAINA CALVAN
Associated Press

NEW YORK (AP) — A crowd of thousands of people who gathered in New York City’s Union Square for an Internet personality’s hyped giveaway has gotten out of hand. Aerial TV news footage Friday showed a surging, tightly packed crowd climbing on vehicles, hurling chairs, throwing punches and scaling structures in the park. Shouting teenagers swung objects at car windows and ran through the streets. Traffic was blocked by the crowd on several streets. Police officers could be seen trying to control the gathering with some success by about 5:30 p.m. On his Instagram feed, the streamer Kai Cenat had an image promoting a giveaway at 4 p.m. in the park.