27-year-old with prior robbery arrest charged in NYPD snowball attack that Mayor Mamdani dismissed as 'kids' goofing off

Gusmane Coulibaly, a 27-year-old wannabe YouTube star who posts under the name "Diaperman," was arrested Thursday in connection with the snowball attack on NYPD officers at Washington Square Park that sent two uniformed cops to the hospital. He was charged with obstruction of governmental administration and harassment.

He is not a kid. He is not a harmless prankster. He is an adult with an existing criminal case.

Coulibaly was previously arrested on Feb. 6 and charged with attempted robbery at a Bronx subway station, where the victim was a 45-year-old man. He pleaded not guilty to attempted robbery, attempted petit larceny, and harassment, and Judge Tara Collins released him on his own recognizance. He is due back in Bronx court on March 15. Three other suspects from the Washington Square Park incident remain at large.

None of this stopped Mayor Zohran Mamdani from racing to downplay the whole thing.

The Mayor Who Saw 'Kids'

When the video of the Monday afternoon incident went viral, Mamdani took to X with a message that managed to be both dismissive and self-congratulatory:

"I've seen the videos of kids throwing snowballs at NYPD officers in Washington Square Park. Officers, like all city workers, have been out in a historic blizzard, keeping New Yorkers safe and cars moving. Treat them with respect. If anyone's catching a snowball, it's me."

A cute line. Two officers were in the hospital.

At a news conference, the mayor doubled down, telling reporters he could "just tell you from the video I saw, it looked like kids in a snowball fight." He then went further, making clear he didn't believe criminal charges were warranted. His representative, Dora Pekec, said the mayor viewed it as "a snowball fight that got out of hand" and that "he does not believe this situation rises to the level of criminal charges." The New York Post reported.

The mayor of New York City publicly called for leniency before the investigation was complete, before the suspect was even identified, and before anyone bothered to check whether the people pelting officers were, in fact, children. They were not.

Police Unions Fire Back

The NYPD's rank and file were not in the mood to play along. The Police Benevolent Association posted on X with the kind of clarity that comes from watching your officers get hospitalized while the mayor shrugs:

"A 27-year-old is not a 'kid,' @NYCMayor. This individual is an adult with a recent attempted robbery arrest, and your message was that it's OK for him to assault police officers for doing their job. This arrest sends a different message. We're grateful to all who have worked so hard on this case. There is more work to be done to hold accountable all who participated in this shameful attack."

Sergeants Benevolent Association President Vincent Vallelong went even further, noting this isn't the first time Mamdani has tried to steer the outcome of a case involving police. Earlier this month, the mayor urged Queens prosecutors not to pursue charges against Jabez Chakraborty, a 22-year-old mentally ill man who was wounded by police after he charged at cops with a knife. Vallelong connected the dots:

"The mayor of New York City has now twice attempted to put his thumb on the scales of justice when police officers are either physically attacked or when their lives are threatened by an individual wielding a knife at them."

Vallelong added that the mayor's call for no criminal charges "has sent a very dangerous tone that the lives of NYC police officers don't matter." He didn't mince words about the consequences:

"We will hold him personally responsible for any further attacks on the NYPD as a result of this reckless and incomprehensible message to violent offenders."

A Pattern, Not an Incident

What makes this story worth watching isn't one snowball fight in Greenwich Village. It's the emerging template of Mamdani's mayoralty. The instinct is always the same: minimize the offense, sympathize with the offender, and pressure the system to stand down.

Two incidents in a matter of weeks where the mayor publicly intervened to discourage the prosecution of people who attacked or threatened police officers. That's not a quirk. That's a governing philosophy.

Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch, to her credit, had already called the Washington Square Park incident "criminal" and "disgraceful" before the mayor started his cleanup effort. On Wednesday, Tisch told The Post the investigation was ongoing and offered a memorable warning:

"I'll say, as to anyone looking to do harm to the police, my message is very clear: I am a protective Jewish mother. Don't mess with my cops."

Whether that warning means anything depends entirely on whether city leadership backs it up or undercuts it. Right now, the mayor and his police commissioner appear to be operating on different planets.

The Escalation Problem

Vallelong's Tuesday statement framed the stakes in terms the mayor seems unwilling to consider:

"When individuals choose to turn a park into a launching ground for attacks on police, they cross a clear line. Today it is snowballs. Tomorrow it could be rocks, bottles, or worse."

The progressive response to this was predictable. Jeet Heer, a writer with The Nation, compared the NYPD's reaction unfavorably to that of Russian civilians during the Nazi siege of Stalingrad. The online left mocked the very idea that throwing objects at police could escalate into something more dangerous.

This is what happens when a city's political leadership tells the public that assaulting officers is no big deal. The commentariat takes the cue. The mockery normalizes it. The next person with a YouTube channel and a grudge sees an opportunity with no consequences.

Coulibaly was already out on his own recognizance for attempted robbery when he allegedly participated in the attack on officers. That fact alone should end the debate about whether this was innocent fun. A man with an open violent crime case targeted police in a public park, and the mayor's first instinct was to call him a kid and wave it off.

What Comes Next

Coulibaly was awaiting arraignment Thursday evening. Three other suspects remain at large, identified through NYPD surveillance photos released after the video went viral. The investigation continues, regardless of the mayor's preferences.

The real question isn't whether Coulibaly faces consequences. It's whether Mamdani learns anything from being publicly contradicted by the facts of his own city's case. The officers he dismissed as overreacting were hospitalized. The "kids" he imagined turned out to be adults with criminal records. The snowball fight he wanted everyone to laugh off required an active investigation and arrests.

Every signal a mayor sends gets received. Mamdani told New York that attacking police isn't serious. Somebody was listening.