A popular video game streamer took to Instagram Monday to live-stream an alleged threat to kill himself in his apartment Downtown.
Daniel Desmond Amofah, known online as Etika, was taken into custody for allegedly threatening to end his life inside his Willoughby Street apartment between Lawrence and Bridge streets just after 1:30 p.m., according to police, who put the street on lockdown for an hour after the unhinged live post.
Amofah went on a rambling and bigoted social media rampage, tweeting “I fear nothing,” “f— the Jews,” — which he later deleted — “f—-t” and calling himself a “god.”
He also tweeted a photoshopped image of him pointing a gun at the camera and posted another tweet referencing nuclear weapons.
“I am inevitable. I always was. You all wasted far too much time building the nukes that I will extinguish life with,” he wrote.
Several of his followers worried for his safety and someone called the police to alert them that he might kill himself.
Some eight squad cars arrived outside Amofah’s apartment and barricaded the street shortly afterwards, all while he live-streamed the event to his more than 180,000 Instagram followers.
He then began shouting “the revolution will not be televized” out of his window and urged bystanders to record the incident on social media.
Cops in riot gear and paramedics got into the online personality’s apartment, cuffed him, and wheeled him out on an upright stretcher as he shouted “We made it” while a crowd of about 50 bystanders cheered him on.
Emergency services drove Amofah to a nearby hospital for psychiatric evaluation, according to an NYPD spokeswoman.
One bystander said that the police were overreacting to Amofah’s antics.
“It’s a complete overreaction, he just had a mental breakdown and they bring out eight police cars,” said Nicholas.
Amofah was hospitalized two weeks ago after threatening to kill himself with a gun on Twitter on April 16 and also garnered social media attention by posting porn on YouTube in October 2018 to get his channel deleted, reported Newsweek.
If someone you know exhibits warning signs of suicide, do not leave the person alone; remove any firearms, alcohol, drugs, or sharp objects that could be used in a suicide attempt; call the U.S. National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at (800) 273–8255; and take the person to an emergency room or seek help from a medical or mental health professional.
