Let history remember when Alvin Bragg went soft on snowball-throwing Diaper Man and essentially endorsed the disrespect of the men and women in blue.
Our prosecution-averse Manhattan DA dropped the police-assault charges against Gusmane Coulibaly, who goes by Diaper Man on YouTube where he posts idiotic videos of himself interviewing couples about their trust levels and him brushing his face with a toothbrush. Scintillating stuff.
Coulibaly, 27, who was arrested earlier this month for attempted robbery (he claims it was a prank), was part of the mob that chased down NYPD officers at Washington Square Park Monday, launching icy snowballs at them. One officer reportedly sustained injuries to the left side of his face that included redness and pain near his eye.
The YouTuber was charged Thursday with assault on a police officer, obstruction and disorderly conduct.
But Bragg’s office said that, even though video showed Coulibaly throwing a snowball that struck the officer in the face, it would be difficult to prove “that the injury was obtained directly from the defendant.” No word if the DA also smashed the like-and-subscribe buttons on Diaper Man’s YouTube page, but the other charges were downgraded.
It’s just another day in Bragg’s Manhattan, where criminals are coddled and disorder is met with a shrug.
Bragg should have at least taken it to a grand jury and let them have the final word on whether they believe there is enough evidence to indict.
Of course, prosecutors bring cases to a grand jury at their own discretion; but by not advancing this one, Bragg essentially made a statement about his utter lack of respect for law enforcement.
In 2023, the DA prioritized a nonsense case against Donald Trump, where Bragg had to twist the law into a pretzel to bring 34 felonies against the then ex-president.
To this day, Trump’s actual crime remains murky at best.
All this while Bragg had stopped prosecuting actual criminals. Instead, he went full steam ahead on the politicized case to become a resistance hero. He also aggressively slapped manslaughter charges on subway hero Daniel Penny. (The jury were deadlocked on that charge, so they simply dropped it. Penny was acquitted on the lesser charge of criminally negligent homicide.)
So the DA is not afraid to go for the gusto on slim evidence.
But he can’t be bothered to send this case to the grand jury — not even to attempt to show that his office holds a line against crime.
The snowball melee should have sparked a unified message from all leaders across the city. And it should have been unequivocal and simple: If you harass and assault officers, you will be prosecuted.
And yet, it was dismissed by Mayor Mamdani who called it “kids at a snowball fight.” Perhaps calling yourself Diaper Man means you can still qualify as a kid at age 27.
Mamdani’s rep said the Mayor didn’t “believe this situation rises to the level of criminal charges.”
But this wasn’t a playful exchange of snowballs between children and cops set to the soundtrack of “Who Are the People in Your Neighborhood?” It was a mob chasing down cops and getting a thrill from seeing them retreat.
Bragg’s decision also undermines NYPD commissioner Jessica Tisch, who fiercely and rightly defended the men and women of her department. “When you wear this uniform and uphold those standards, you deserve to be treated with respect,’’ she said Friday morning.
Shame on Mamdani and Bragg for essentially signing a permission slip for rudderless reprobates to harass our hardworking cops.
