Gothamist77%
NYPD arrests man in Washington Square Park snowball fight0%
By Charles Lane36% Brittany Kriegstein66%
2/26/2026, 5:43:00 AM
Topics: Police Community Relations
BS Summary: This article contains 16 faulty reasoning types, including Negativity Bias, Availability Heuristic, and Anchoring Bias, with Framing Effect as the most egregious example at 47% saturation with 191 hits. Analysis detected 817 faulty-reasoning hits from 406 analyzed words, generating a BS Score of 0% and a BS Rank of 0% (0 of 21,887 articles). This article is better (less manipulative) than 100.00% of the article peer group.
Police arrested a 27-year-old man on Thursday morning in connection with a massive snowball fight in Washington Square Park that resulted in two NYPD officers being pelted with snowballs by members of a large crowd, according to the department.
Gusmane Coulibaly was taken into custody for allegedly assaulting officers, the NYPD wrote in a post on X.
Police officials said they were still looking for three others in the incident, which went viral online.
The arrest comes after Mayor Zohran Mamdani suggested participants should not face criminal charges, calling the episode a snowball fight that got “out of hand.”
NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch called the incident “disgraceful” and “criminal,” while Gov. Kathy Hochul and the city’s police unions criticized the mayor’s response.
Mamdani reiterated his position Wednesday morning, before Thursday’s arrest.
"I stay in regular touch with my police commissioner and I appreciate the work that she's doing," he said.
"I've said time and time again that I, having seen these videos, to me it was a snowball fight that got out of hand and it should be treated accordingly."
The snowball fight, promoted by the popular Instagram account Sidetalk, drew many people to the park on Monday afternoon, following a historic blizzard that dumped at least 20 inches of snow across the city.
Police said officers responding to a 911 call for a disorderly crowd were struck with snow and ice at close range.
The NYPD said the two officers in the viral video were injured in the face and neck and were treated at Northwell Greenwich Village Hospital for a bruised eye and a headache.
Video posted online shows parkgoers throwing large chunks of snow at a police car.
The NYPD later released images of four people wanted in connection with the incident.
Attorney information for Coulibaly was not immediately available early Thursday.
The case now heads to the Manhattan district attorney’s office, which previously declined to pursue charges in a similar high-profile crowd case.
DA Alvin Bragg dropped riot-related charges against online influencer Kai Cenat and two others a couple of years ago, after a chaotic crowd descended on Union Square for a giveaway he promoted in 2023.
The three paid more than $57,000 in restitution and issued public apologies.
Bragg's office did not immediately respond to a request for comment on whether it would prosecute the snowball fight cases.
This story is based on preliminary information from police and may be updated.
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