Police officers patrolling a New York City park during Monday’s blizzard were assaulted with snowballs, leaving several injured as temperatures plummeted.
According to police, officers arrived at Washington Square Park in Manhattan around 4 p.m. following reports of multiple individuals on a park rooftop.
As the officers approached, they were struck by snowballs, sustaining injuries in the process.
Several officers required hospital treatment for facial lacerations.
Video footage shared on social media showed officers attempting to dodge snowballs as crowds ran towards them.
NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch called the incident “disgraceful” and “criminal.”
“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. Our detectives are investigating this matter,” she wrote in a post on X.
The Police Benevolent Association of the City of New York described the attack as “unacceptable and outrageous” in a post on X, which added that the individuals responsible should be “arrested and charged with assault on a police officer.”
“This is the environment that NYC police officers are up against. Our police officers are being treated for their injuries, but the case CANNOT end there. The individuals involved must be identified, arrested and charged with assault on a police officer. And all of our city leaders must speak up to condemn this despicable attack,” the post read.
New York Drug Enforcement Administration President Scott Munro also urged Mayor Zohran Mamdani and Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg to ensure that those responsible for the attack are held accountable and face prosecution.
“No free pass. No get out of jail free card. Make no mistake: detectives will do what they always do. They will identify those involved and they will apprehend them,” Munro said in a statement. “Our men and women in blue deserve to be safe. They deserve to be protected. And they deserve to be respected. They earn it every single day.”
It comes as New York City is currently battling a historic winter storm which has seen thousands of flights cancelled, travel bans and power outages.
The powerful bomb cyclone, with near-hurricane-force wind gusts, dumped over a foot of snow on Monday morning. Central Park recorded 19 inches of snow. Schools were also closed on Monday.
“No remote learning, no logging on,” Mamdani wrote on X. “Our first real snow day in seven years. This blizzard is serious. Stay inside. Travel ban 9pm–noon tomorrow so crews can keep streets clear.”
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