https://abcnews.com/US/rift-rises-mayor-zohran-mamdani-nypd-after-cops/story?id=130501796A viral incident between New Yorkers and NYPD officers during Monday's blizzard has snowballed into Mayor Zohran Mamdani's first test with the police brass.And with Mamdani capturing attention on the national stage, the progressive mayor is threading the needle carefully to avoid repeating the mistakes some of his predecessors made to ensure he doesn't lose that critical police support, according to a political expert.Mamdani came under fire on Tuesday after the president of the Police Benevolent Association -- the union representing the NYPD -- accused the mayor of downplaying the severity of an incident. The NYPD said people playing in the snow on Monday in Manhattan were "attacking" officers with snowballs."I've seen the videos of this snowball fight. I think that it was a snowball fight," the mayor said during a news conference when asked repeatedly if anyone should be charged for the incident.Mamdani echoed his sentiment on Wednesday at another news conference."What I saw was a snowball fight that got out of hand and it should be treated accordingly," he said.The incident took place Monday afternoon in Washington Square Park when police were called in about parkgoers playing aggressively, according to the NYPD.Parkgoer Rahul Nag told WABC 7 that it started off as harmless fun but escalated when several young people began tossing snow from the roof of the park's restrooms. The officers were confronted after they arrived to investigate."It wasn't supposed to be violent. It started out as a very fun thing to do, and then, you know, it just escalated, and there weren't any older kids or older people out here," he told the station."It was just young kids having fun. And then it kind of became a back-and-forth thing between NYPD and those young kids," Nag added.
Police say the crowd began throwing snowballs at them and continued to pelt them and their vehicles with snowballs as they left the park. The mayor and NYPD said two officers were treated for minor injuries, including lacerations.Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch said in an X post Tuesday night that the incident was being investigated. The NYPD also released images of the people who allegedly threw the snowballs at the officers."The NYPD is aware of certain videos taken earlier today in Washington Square Park showing individuals attacking cops. I want to be very clear: The behavior depicted is disgraceful, and it is criminal," Tisch said in her post.No arrests had been made as of Wednesday afternoon.Although Mamdani did not describe the incident as an attack, he repeatedly has condemned anyone who would antagonize the police, and praised their work during the snowstorms over the last two months."I want to say that officers have been on the front line of helping our city respond to this blizzard. They have been keeping New Yorkers safe, and they have also been at the heart of our efforts of digging New Yorkers’ cars out of these kinds of conditions and ensuring that our ambulances, our MTA buses can keep functioning across this city" he told reporters during the Tuesday news conference.The mayor's remarks, however, did not sit well with the leaders of the Police Benevolent Association. The union's president, Patrick Hendry, released a statement Tuesday calling the mayor's response "a complete failure of leadership.""This was disgraceful. It wasn't a joke. It wasn't a game. It was a vicious attack," he said.Mamdani told reporters Wednesday that he and Tisch are in constant communication but declined to talk more about the investigation into the incident.
>The Republican controlled media is trying to again attack Mamdani because they've failed to sabotage him otherwise.*yawn*
>>1491958Not the OP, but this is kind of a big deal. Mamdani aside, this sends the message that people can assault officers with impunity.
>>1491959It was a fucking snowball. Unless the snowballs had rocks in them it is literally harmless.
>>1491959Should every snowball fight be prosecuted?
https://youtu.be/enL4BBlqlJQhere's a video so you can decide for yourselfinb4>New York Postthere's no commentary
>>1491959>>1491965>More proof it's just republicans crying bitch tears over a nothing burger.THIS will be what brings Mandani down and get the masses to ignore trump and the epstein class
>>1491965oh my god. That seems like... a minor annoyance! They might have even caught a cold!
