A New York City (NYC) prosecutor has predictably dropped assault charges against a local influencer who’d hurled snowballs at local police.
During a so-called snowball fight this Monday between local influencers, a number of police officers wound up getting pelted with snowballs.
“The notion that this was a playful snowball fight obviously is not true,” Patrick Hendry, police union president, said after the fight, according to the Associated Press.
“This was an attack on the uniform that these police officers wear so proudly every day. They came after these police officers, pelting them with ice, rocks,” he added.
Yet not surprisingly, both leftist NYC Mayor Zohran Mamdani and Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s office have downplayed the veritable assault on the police.
Zohran Mamdani reacts to police officers being injured after being pelted with snowballs: “It looks like a snowball fight.”
— The Post Millennial (@TPostMillennial) February 24, 2026
“I’ve said time and time again that, having seen these videos, to me it was a snowball fight that got out of hand, and it should be treated accordingly,” Mamdani told reporters on Wednesday, insisting that nobody should be prosecuted.
Bragg’s office evidently got the message loud and clear, because on Thursday, they dropped assault charges against Gusmane Coulibaly, 27, a local influencer who was arrested for taking part in the fracas.
The good news, according to The Independent, is that Coulibaly still faces a misdemeanor charge of obstructing government administrators and a harassment violation.
The bad news is that these charges are nothing, especially for a stone-cold CRIMINAL like this guy.
“Mr. Coulibaly was previously arrested less than three weeks ago for an attempted robbery in the transit system,” according to the New York Police Department (NYPD).
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
Hendry was incensed by the prosecution’s decision to go after Coulibaly with kid gloves.
“It sends a horrible message to these police officers right here that the mayor is not going to have our backs,” he said. “You’re putting a target on these police officers’ backs.”
He also alleged that Coulibaly and the other goons involved in the incident had purposefully packed their snowballs with ice and rocks.
“This was a grown adult that was here,” he said specifically of Coulibaly. “Our police officers went to this location, on the rooftop, for a disorderly group, came down, and they were surrounded by hundreds of individuals who then attacked all police officers.”
According to the New York Post, Manhattan Assistant District Attorney Victoria Notaro admitted in court that at least one officer who’d been pelted by the goons suffered redness, tenderness, and pain to his face.
However, she also alleged that it was hard to prove “that the injury was obtained directly from the defendant.”
Wanted for ASSAULT ON A POLICE OFFICER: On 2/23/26 at approximately 4:20 PM, two uniformed police officers were inside Washington Square Park when two individuals intentionally struck the officers multiple times with snow and ice causing injury to their head, neck, and face.… pic.twitter.com/uTvF3fKCyI
— NYPD NEWS (@NYPDnews) February 24, 2026
Coulibaly’s attorney, George Vomvolakis, tried for his part to portray the snowball attack as nothing but a snowball fight by, for example, falsely claiming his client was only 22 versus 27.
The attorney also propped his client up as a so-called “content creator” who makes “elaborate videos” in which he pranks people by, for instance, approaching random people in the subway and demanding money from them …
Judge Michelle Weber didn’t buy any of it, telling Vomvolakis that his client “showed a complete lack of judgment.”
After Coulibaly’s release, Mayor Mamdani’s spokesperson, Dora Pekec, argued in a statement that he shouldn’t face any charges at all.
“As the mayor has said, police officers deserve to be treated with respect,” Pekec told reporters. “The videos he saw showed a snowball fight that got out of hand. He does not believe this situation rises to the level of criminal charges.”
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V. Saxena is a staff writer with a decade of experience as a professional writer, and a lifetime of experience as an avid news junkie. He holds a degree in computer technology from Purdue University. Saxena also contributes to BizPac Review.
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