Vide of snow-splattered officers being pelted by a jeering crowd of New Yorkers widely shared on social media

Published on Feb. 24, 2026, 11:50 PM

A video of snow-splattered officers being pelted by a jeering crowd of New Yorkers was shared widely on social media on Monday, prompting debate over whether anyone who walks into a public snowball fight is fair game or if some participants had crossed a line and assaulted police officers.

By Jonathan Allen and Maria Tsvetkova

NEW YORK, Feb 24 (Reuters) – The New York Police Department is investigating a boisterous snowball fight in a Manhattan park after several officers were hit in the face, dividing the mayor and other city leaders on Tuesday over whether the throwers should be reminded to show a little respect or arrested and prosecuted.

A video of snow-splattered officers being pelted by a jeering crowd of New Yorkers was shared widely on social media on Monday, prompting debate over whether anyone who walks into a public snowball fight is fair game or if some participants had crossed a line and assaulted police officers.

Within hours, Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch said the video showed criminal assault on uniformed officers. The next day, her boss Mayor Zohran Mamdani repeatedly said he saw only kids throwing snowballs with too little regard or respect for the police on a day when school was canceled.

In her statement, Tisch said the video showed “individuals attacking cops” in Washington Square Park and that detectives were investigating.

“The behavior depicted is disgraceful, and it is criminal,” she said. Her department and the mayor said two of the officers had “lacerations” to their face or neck from the snowballs, and police said they were taken to a nearby hospital in “stable condition.”

Mamdani was repeatedly asked at a press conference on Tuesday afternoon if he agreed with his police commissioner that a crime had been committed, but he declined to say, only repeating his assertion that the videos showed “kids at a snowball fight.” He praised police officers for helping keep New Yorkers safe during and after Monday’s paralyzing blizzard, and urged people to not throw snowballs at them.