Arrest in Washington Square Park Snowball Melee After Blizzard
One of the four individuals sought for pelting cops with snowballs and ice following the Feb. 23 blizzard has been arrested but the DAs office dropped the more serious assault charges.
| 01 Mar 2026 | 03:11
Police said they arrested 27-yea- old Gusmane Coulibaly, wg (
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Social media videos show police getting pelted with snowballs after they began retreating to the perimeter of Washington Square Park in Greenwich Village. (
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After responding to a disturbance inside the park, police withdrew to the perimeter but were pelted with snowballs and ice. Police sought four people for assault and on Feb. 26 one of the suspects was arrested. (
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Police initially released two photos and then on Feb. 25 released the four photos above of suspects they said where responsible for throwing snowballs and ice balls at police in a snowball fight in Washington Square Park on Feb. 23 in the aftermath of the bliizzard. (
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The social media site Sidetalk called for people to assemble in Washington Square Park on Feb 23 at 2 p.m. and eventually hundreds showed up. (
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A 27-year-old man has been arrested in connection with the snowball fight in Washington Square Park in which cops who were called to quell a disturbance following the Feb. 23 blizzard were pelted with snowballs and ice and at least two were injured.
Gusmane Coulibaly was hit with obstructing governmental administration and harassment charges on Feb. 26 for throwing a snowball at close range that hit Police Office Nicholas Johnson in the face just below the left eye. But the DAs dropped the more serious charge of assault because it could not prove that Coulibaly had inflicted any physical injury caused directly by his conduct. In his statement, the police officer said he felt “annoyed, harassed, and alarmed” by the incident, according to the DAs office.
The NYPD said on Feb. 26 that they had arrested Coulibaly “for assaulting our officers earlier this week in Washington Square Park.” Coulibaly was previously arrested less than three weeks ago for an attempted robbery in the transit system, cops said in a statement on NYPD X.
Coulibay, who has a YouTube presence where he goes by the name of “Diaperman” claimed his shakedown of a stranger on Bronx subway rider was part of a prank. Video of the “prank” surfaced after his arrest, in which he pretends that random people on a subway owed him money. He filmed their reaction as he tried to shake people he never met before, claiming they owed him money. Coulibay was arrested by undercover cops on a Bronx subway train on Feb. 6 in a case that is still pending.
Two photos were released by the NYPD Crime Stopper site on Feb. 24 and two more photos, including Coulibaly’s, were released on Feb. 25. Police said they were seeking the public’s help in locating the suspects, but a week after incident Coulibaly remains the only arrest.
The snowball fight highlighted a split between Mayor Zohran Mamdani, and NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch who was supported by union leaders for various branches of the police department. Tisch said on the day of the incident that it was a “disgrace” and “criminal” and that the NYPD had started an investigation.
Coulibaly’s attorney, George Vormvolakis was dismissive of the assault charge and said at worse it was a “little disrespectful,” but not criminal. “We’ve all seen attacks. We’re all New Yorkers. It didn’t look like an attack to me,” his lawyer said. “Did it go a little past jokes and fun? Was it possibly a little disrespectful to the police? Yes.”
Patrick Hendry, head of the Patrolmen’s Benevolent Association (PBA) said that at least two officers were injured in the melee. “This was an attack on our police officers,” Hendry said. “One was smashed over the head with ice. Another one was hit in the eye, in the back. This needs to be taken seriously, and we need our DA to prosecute this case once they are captured and once they are arrested.”
Mamdani, before a surprise trip to Washington D.C. to meet in President Trump on Thursday, Feb. 26, had spent two days downplaying the incidents, and stating he did not think participants should be facing criminal charges.
The snowball fight in Washington Square Park was initially called by a social media site Sidetalk for 2 p.m. and it seemed to start innocently enough around that time. But soon the park was packed with snowballers. People kept arriving and police were summoned around 4 p.m.
On Tuesday, Feb. 24 as Mamdani was giving a rundown on the snow emergency, a single question was asked about the snowball fight in the park. “I can just tell you from the video I saw, it looked like kids at a snowball fight,” the mayor said.
Mamdani in another press conference was asked a few more questions on what was now emerging as a divisive topic between the Administration and the police department. He said cops deserve respect, but again said he did not think the police should criminally prosecute anyone involved in the snowball fight.
He attempted to diffuse the situation with humor. Since he had invited school kids to hit him with snowballs when he refused to give them a snow day on the day of the first big storm on Jan. 25, he told reporters, “The only person in our city’s workforce who deserves to be treated with a snowball is me.”
Coulibaly was one of four suspects whose photos were released by the NYPD Crime Stoppers site in connection with the melee but a week after the incident, he remains the only individual arrested. The charges he is facing are misdemeanors.