NYPD Officers Pelted with Snowballs, Injured in Washington Square Park | WATCH
The snowball fight had been heavily promoted on social media as a fun snow-day event after the blizzard dropped nearly 20 inches of heavy, wet snow across Manhattan. Unfortunately, what began as playful chaos quickly turned hostile toward the responding officers.
Several New York City police officers were injured Monday afternoon when a large crowd in Washington Square Park pelted them with snowballs during a massive, planned snowball fight following a major blizzard.
Officers responded around 4 p.m. on February 23 to a 911 call reporting disorderly conduct and multiple people climbing onto a roof or structure inside the Greenwich Village park.
Video footage shows the officers being surrounded, taunted, and repeatedly hit with hard-packed, icy snowballs as they tried to leave the scene and return to their police van.
Multiple officers suffered lacerations to their faces from the snowballs and were taken to the hospital for treatment.
No arrests were made at the scene.
NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch condemned the incident on social media Monday night, writing:
“The behavior depicted is disgraceful, and it is criminal. Our detectives are investigating this matter.”
The Police Benevolent Association (PBA) has demanded arrests and full assault charges against those responsible.
As of Tuesday morning, the NYPD detective bureau is actively reviewing bystander videos and park surveillance to identify suspects.
No arrests have been announced.