Earlier, we reported how the NYPD shared on Thursday morning that they had made an arrest stemming from a Monday snowballing incident, which saw police officers get repeatedly hit with snowballs, some of them the size of boulders, after they were called out to Washington Square Park to look into allegations of unruly behavior among some of those gathered for the pre-planned post-blizzard event.
27-year-old Gusmane Coulibaly was taken into custody. Not surprisingly, the NYPD noted in their announcement that he had a recent prior arrest:
This morning, the NYPD arrested Gusmane Coulibaly, 27 years old, for assaulting our officers earlier this week in Washington Square Park.
Mr. Coulibaly was previously arrested less than three weeks ago for an attempted robbery in the transit system. pic.twitter.com/IHO2zTC4tr
— NYPD NEWS (@NYPDnews) February 26, 2026
READ MORE: One of Mamdani’s ‘Kids Throwing Snowballs’ Busted for Assaulting NYC Cops—PBA Prez Torches Mayor
Coulibaly has been the only one arrested of the four whose images were released Tuesday and Wednesday by the department:
NYPD releases images of 4 people wanted for questioning after officers hit with snowballs https://t.co/hX8IzPwJFd pic.twitter.com/Qph5tKT69G
— Eyewitness News (@ABC7NY) February 25, 2026
Video of what took place prompted NYC Mayor Zohran Mamdani, a Defund the Police proponent, to predictably minimize it as merely “kids” having a “snowball fight,” comments he made Tuesday when he was first asked about it and then again on Wednesday, when he doubled down.
But multiple videos, including the one below, showed it was a whole lot more than that:
NYC (Feb. 23) — Emboldened rioters hurled snowballs at NYPD officers at Washington Square Park. pic.twitter.com/qd2qAKVSXr
— Andy Ngo (@MrAndyNgo) February 24, 2026
Though NYC Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch described what took place Monday as “disgraceful” and “criminal” acts that were under investigation, and later confirmed he had been arrested and charged with assault, it has been revealed that Manhattan prosecutors will not be pursuing assault charges against Coulibaly:
Manhattan prosecutors declined to pursue an assault charge against Gusmane Coulibaly on Thursday night, instead charging him with misdemeanor obstructing government administration and a harassment violation in connection with the viral Washington Square Park snowball fight.
Coulibaly, 27, was arraigned in Manhattan Criminal Court on Thursday evening and released on supervised release…
[…]
In court, prosecutors said that after reviewing the evidence, they were unable to prove that an officer suffered a physical injury caused directly by Coulibaly’s conduct and therefore did not pursue an assault charge. They said the investigation remains ongoing.
Considering Mamdani’s downplaying of what happened on Monday, and now this, it’s not going to make those in the Big Apple who are fed up with the soft-on-crime policies of the Manhattan District Attorney’s office happy to see Coulibaly be hit with lighter charges.
It will be interesting to see if further reviewing of the various videos and angles of the incident yields clear and convincing evidence of assault among the other suspects the NYPD is looking for. As always, stay tuned.
Editor’s Note: The American people overwhelmingly support President Trump’s law and order agenda.
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