Gusmane Coulibaly, the 28-year-old arrested in February for launching snowballs against some police officers during a major battle organized in Washington Square Park, Manhattan, will have to perform 20 hours of socially useful work for the New York Park Department. It is the agreement reached on Friday, October 30 with the Manhattan Prosecutor, which allowed the procedure to be closed. Coulibaly pleaded guilty of harassment, an infringement that in the State of New York does not constitute a criminal offence. The most serious accusation of obstacle to the activity of the authorities has been withdrawn and, according to his lawyer, George Vomvolakis, the file may be secreted after a year.
The story dates back to February 23, when a strong snowstorm paralyzed much of New York, causing the closure of schools and numerous roads. In Washington Square Park more than a hundred people had gathered for a snowball battle organized through social networks. The police intervened after some participants had climbed to the roof of a park building, from which they launched snow and ice on the people below. On the arrival of the agents, part of the crowd had begun to target them too. The videos circulated online showed several participants throwing snowballs against the cops, two of whom had reported facial injuries and complained about head and neck pain.
Coulibaly had been arrested three days later, on February 26, initially on the charge of assault on a police officer, a serious offence that could have caused much heavier criminal consequences. However, the Manhattan Prosecutor had decided not to proceed with the defendant: while having footage showing the man throwing a snowball against an agent, the investigators had failed to prove that the injuries reported by the police officer were directly provoked by his gesture. There were therefore allegations of obstacle to the activity of the authorities and harassment, on which the agreement of last week was reached.
The episode had caused a confrontation between Mayor Zohran Mamdani and the police leadership. Mamdani had resized the event, claiming that it was a battle of degenerated snowballs and that participants should not be prosecuted penally. The police commissioner, Jessica Tisch, had instead defined the behavior of present shameful and criminal. Even the agents’ union, the Police Benevolent Association, had criticized the mayor’s position. After the judiciary agreement, union president Patrick Hendry spoke of an overly indulgent justice, accusing Mamdani and district attorney Alvin Bragg of minimizing an assault on the police.
Coulibaly’s lawyer said that his assistant repented of the behaviour held in the park and acknowledged that he had failed to respect the agents. The conclusion of the proceedings, however, does not end its judicial problems. Before the February arrest he had already been accused of an attempt at robbery in the New York subway and, according to Gothamist, on 8 October he was again arrested for an alleged robbery attempt at the damage of an outpatient seller in East Harlem. In the latter proceedings, Coulibaly pleaded not guilty.
L’articolo A snowball against the police can make you finish with 20 hours of socially useful jobs proviene da IlNewyorkese.
