A blizzard-day snowball fight became a viral moment and a flashpoint over policing, mayoral authority, and the line between public fun and criminal assault
Snowballs and Subtext: The Fight That Became a Flashpoint
On Monday February 23, 2026, as the Blizzard of 2026 dropped historic amounts of snow on New York City, a crowd assembled in Washington Square Park in Greenwich Village for what appeared to be an organized snowball fight. What followed became one of the most-discussed incidents of the young Mamdani administration — a viral video event that exposed fault lines between City Hall and the NYPD, between advocates for police accountability and police union leaders, and between competing definitions of what constitutes a crime.
What the Videos Show
Multiple videos captured from different angles show a large, raucous crowd in the park, with people throwing snowballs at groups of uniformed NYPD officers. In some footage, officers appear to be retreating toward their vehicles while being pelted from multiple directions. In other clips, officers shove individuals to the ground amid the chaos. NYPD officials said officers sustained injuries including cuts to the face and were transported to a hospital for treatment, though all were expected to recover. The NYPD described the behavior as a coordinated attack. Others who were present described it as a snowball fight that escalated beyond anyone’s intentions.
The First Arrest: Gusmane Coulibaly
Gusmane Coulibaly, 27, a social media content creator known online as “Diaper Man,” became the first person arrested in connection with the incident. He was taken into custody Thursday at his Bronx home and charged with obstructing governmental administration and harassment. He appeared in Manhattan criminal court in handcuffs, was released without bail, and is due back in court in April. Assistant District Attorney Victoria Notaro said video showed Coulibaly throwing a snowball that struck Officer Nicholas Johnson in the face, but prosecutors declined to pursue felony assault charges, citing insufficient evidence linking his specific throw to the officer’s documented injuries. Coulibaly’s attorney, George Vomvolakis, argued that the arrest had been “politicized” and suggested the NYPD was using his client to pick a fight with Mayor Mamdani. The New York City Bar Association has published guidance on the legal standards for disorderly conduct and assault in public space contexts that are directly relevant to how this case may proceed.
The Mamdani-NYPD Tension
Mayor Mamdani’s response to the incident sharpened the divide. He described the snowball fight as something that “got out of hand” and said he did not believe criminal charges were warranted. He declined to support a ban on organized snowball fights and praised city workers — including NYPD officers — for their performance during the blizzard. Police union president Patrick Hendry of the PBA responded with fury, calling the incident a “shameful attack” and accusing the mayor of failing to back the officers who were injured. The president of the detectives union demanded that DA Alvin Bragg pursue maximum charges. The episode crystallized a tension that has existed between progressive mayors and police unions in cities across the country: mayors who seek to de-escalate confrontations between law enforcement and the public are routinely accused by unions of abandoning officer safety.
Coulibaly’s Defense and His Prior Arrest
Complicating the picture is Coulibaly’s recent history. He had been arrested less than three weeks before the snowball incident for attempted robbery in the transit system — a charge his attorney says arose from a staged confrontation for social media content, in which Coulibaly approached a stranger and pretended to demand money as part of a scripted video. Whether that charge will be dismissed, as his attorney expects, remains to be seen. His hundreds of thousands of followers across YouTube, Instagram, TikTok, and Snapchat give his case a public profile that would be unusual for a misdemeanor harassment charge under ordinary circumstances. The NYCLU has documented patterns in how social media content creators who film police interactions are treated by law enforcement and how charges in such cases are handled by prosecutors.
The Larger Conversation
Beyond the specific facts of this case, the Washington Square Park incident has sparked a genuine public debate about the nature of protest, performance, and policing in a post-pandemic New York where public space has taken on new meaning. The park itself has been a site of repeated confrontations between residents, officials, and the NYPD over noise, encampments, and nighttime curfews. Governor Hochul weighed in, saying clearly that throwing anything at a police officer is never acceptable. Three additional suspects remain at large, and the NYPD has released images seeking public help in identifying them. The full legal and political consequences of one blizzard-day hour in a Greenwich Village park are still unfolding.
