His case disappeared almost as quickly as the snowball itself.
A would-be social-media influencer arrested for throwing a snowball at an NYPD officer in Washington Square Park will have the incident removed from his criminal record after completing 20 hours of community service under a plea deal reached Friday.
Gusmane Coulibaly, 28, pleaded down to harassment, classified as a “violation” roughly equivalent to a parking ticket. The NYPD had initially sought felony assault charges after he allegedly struck an officer in the face with the frozen projectile during a viral snowball fight in Manhattan in February.
According to the Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s office, the charge will be erased from Coulibaly’s record once he completes the community service for the Parks Department. Prosecutors said in court that the resolution was “appropriate and consistent with this defendant’s conduct that day.”
The plea deal comes months after a concerned bystander called 911 while watching a massive snowball battle erupt during an intense Feb. 23 blizzard. Video showed arriving police officers being pelted with snowballs. Coulibaly was arrested several days later after the NYPD released images of him to the media.
The “3rd Annual Sidetalk Snowball Fight” appeared to have been organized by Sidetalk, a chaotic New York City-based Instagram show, and was also promoted by other social-media accounts.
NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch later described the snowball throwers as “disgraceful” and “criminal.” The Police Benevolent Association, the city’s largest union representing NYPD officers, called the incident a “despicable attack” on police.
Mayor Zohran Mamdani urged New Yorkers not to throw snow at officers but faced criticism for appearing to minimize the episode by describing it as “kids throwing snowballs at NYPD officers.”
“Treat them with respect. If anyone’s catching a snowball, it’s me,” Mamdani wrote on X, prompting critics to call the response flippant.
Coulibaly “regrets his decision to throw a snowball at the police,” his attorney, George Vomvolakis, told The Post on Friday.
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“His intention was never to be disrespectful, but he understands that what he did may have been disrespectful,” the lawyer said.
Coulibaly has also been arrested twice in the past year in connection with alleged robberies involving unsuspecting New Yorkers. His attorney has said those incidents were actually part of “prank” social-media videos in which Coulibaly claimed people owed him money and recorded their reactions.
The Bronx native was arrested Feb. 6 for allegedly attempting to rob a confused subway passenger in his home borough. The charges were later dismissed after Coulibaly maintained that he had only been joking for one of his videos, Vomvolakis said.
The attention-seeking influencer was separately arrested earlier this month in connection with an alleged East Harlem robbery. Court papers say he displayed what appeared to be a gun handle in his waistband and attempted to rob someone selling items on the sidewalk on East 116th Street.
Coulibaly pleaded not guilty in that case, was released on his own recognizance and is scheduled to return to Manhattan Supreme Court on Dec. 10.
Vomvolakis, who is not representing Coulibaly in the alleged robbery case, said his client again insists he never intended to rob anyone and was merely recording another “prank” video.
PBA President Patrick Hendry criticized the snowball-case plea deal as “weak.”
“We’re not surprised that we’re getting weak justice in this case because DA Alvin Bragg and Mayor Mamdani made sure of that from the beginning,” Hendry told The Post.
“By downplaying this attack on police officers, the mayor and DA gave this individual a free pass to keep causing chaos on our streets — and that’s exactly what he has done,” Hendry said.
“This is yet another consequence of having a DA who is more focused on punishing cops for doing our job than protecting the people of Manhattan.”
