Authorities are investigating after a man appeared to threaten a group of Twitch live streamers Sunday night on the Santa Monica Pier.
The women, popular Twitch streamers known as Cinna, Valkyrae, and Emiru, were participating in a weeklong marathon stream in Los Angeles when the incident occurred. According to the victims, the suspect first introduced himself on their stream as “Russell” before reappearing about 30 minutes later and issuing the threat.
Police said the situation escalated when the man confronted Emiru, allegedly threatening her life after she refused to give him her phone number.
In the live stream, the man can be heard threatening to kill someone. It’s unclear if the threat was directed toward the streamers themselves or someone in the filming crew.
The streamers, who have hundreds of thousands combined followers, immediately contacted authorities.
Santa Monica police confirmed they responded to the incident and took a report. Officers moved the women to a safer location, but the suspect had already left the area by the time they arrived.
Police could not confirm who the threats were directed specifically toward, but said it was someone in the group.
In a statement, one of the streamers described the encounter as terrifying. “We’re very much in shock… that does not do it justice for how scary it was,” she said.
The Twitch marathon was intended to be a positive event, the women noted, but they were left shaken by the encounter.
Police have not released further details about the suspect, and the investigation remains ongoing. Anyone with information is urged to contact the Santa Monica Police Department.
