Snowball fight in New York turns chaotic after police arrive

NEW YORK – The event was billed as a massive snowball fight in a beloved New York park, a moment of unrestrained revelry as the first blizzard in a decade bore down on the city.

“NYC TELL YOUR FRIENDS AND PULL UP,” the organisers, the social media content producers known as Sidetalk, wrote in a post announcing the Feb 23 gathering, which would take place at Washington Square Park in lower Manhattan.

As advertised, at 3pm, dozens of people, many freed of school and work, had descended on the park to take part in the merrymaking.

Videos show a sea of people in winter hats and puffer jackets lobbing snowballs in wide arcs, a snow-dusted Washington Arch behind them.

But what began as a lighthearted frolic in one of the city’s most frequented gathering places soon turned chaotic when several police officers, called to control the crowd, walked in and were pelted with snowballs.

Hours later, Ms Jessica Tisch, the head of the Police Department, said the agency was investigating the episode after videos showed the officers being hit with snow.

“The NYPD is aware of certain videos taken earlier today in Washington Square Park showing individuals attacking cops,” Ms Tisch wrote in a post on the social platform X on Feb 23. She called the behaviour “disgraceful” and “criminal”.

The encounter seemed to hint at a deeper tension simmering in New York and elsewhere, as President Donald Trump has sent immigration agents and National Guard troops into major US cities, rekindling antagonism toward law enforcement agencies.

Police on Feb 24 said that two officers had been taken to Northwell Greenwich Village Hospital after being struck by the snowballs and by ice at close range, causing injuries to their heads, necks and faces.

On Feb 24 evening, police said they were seeking two men, each between 18 and 20 years old, who were wanted for assault.

No arrests have been made so far.

The episode seemed poised to set off a game of political shot-taking on Feb 24, as New York lawmakers and critics of Mayor Zohran Mamdani took to social media to condemn what they saw as aggressive behaviour towards police.

The Police Benevolent Association, the largest of the city’s police unions, called for arrests and assault charges against the snowball throwers.

The governor said it was unacceptable to throw anything at an officer. The city’s comptroller said the episode could not be normalised.

By Feb 24 morning, the mayor himself had weighed in.

In a post on X, Mr Mamdani praised police officers for their help in the storm and told New Yorkers to treat them with respect.

But at a news conference later that afternoon, he appeared to break with the commissioner, saying he did not think the encounter constituted a crime and did not believe participants should face charges.

“From the videos that I’ve seen, it looks like a snowball fight,” Mr Mamdani said, noting that the episode seemed to involve young people. He acknowledged, however, that two officers had been cut.

It was unclear on Feb 24 whether the Manhattan district attorney’s office would proceed with charges against the participants if any were in fact arrested.

But the brewing political storm bore similarities to one in 2019, when three men were arrested after being captured on video dousing police officers with water during a heat wave.

Videos of the gathering on Feb 23 posted on social media show the mood shifting as officers walk through the park and interact with the crowd.

One recording published by FreedomNews.TV, a breaking news outlet, shows four police officers walking toward a park exit while snowballs fly at them from behind and several people film them from the sidelines.

One of the officers appears to chuckle, but as the group walks on, larger balls of snow hit them on the head and neck. The officers then turn back, walking deeper into a crowd of people before ultimately moving to leave the park once again. Some shouting ensues as snowballs continue to fly at them.

In another video posted on X, officers walking near the park’s bathrooms appear to first get caught in the crossfire of the snowball fight.

Soon, however, several people begin throwing large amounts of snow at them, coating their uniforms in white.

Two officers then hustle towards the restrooms, shoving two people in their path into snow banks as they go. A few seconds later, a person smashes a snowball onto the back of an officer’s neck.

In a third video, several officers appear to be walking down a street outside the park as a large group of teenagers runs after them, whooping and chucking snowballs in their direction.

The officers in the videos appear to largely not engage with the snowball throwers and they eventually retreat from the park and to their cars.

On Feb 24, police said that the officers had been dispatched to the event after receiving a 911 call about a disorderly group in the park. When they arrived, they saw a large crowd of people throwing snowballs and officers were soon struck in the face by the snow, police said.

Emergency medical workers later took the two injured officers to the hospital in stable condition, police said. NYTIMES