Zohran Mamdani Faucets Convicted Armed Robber To Lead Public Security Transition Crew
New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani has tasked a controversial rapper who spent seven years in prison for armed robbery to serve as an adviser for his criminal justice team, according to a report from the New York Post.
Mysonne Linen, 49, will sit on the incoming mayor’s transitional “criminal legal system” committee, The Post reported. A Bronx native, Linen was found guilty of armed robbery in connection with two heists in the late 1990s.
“This is a testament to our decades of work advocating on behalf of black and brown communities and our expertise in gun violence prevention, legislative advocacy and criminal justice reform,” Linen wrote in an Instagram post last month after the position was announced. “We are building something different.”
Linen was an up-and-coming rapper when he was convicted for being part of a crew that robbed two cab drivers in The Bronx, according to a New York Daily News article from the time. His conviction came just before the release of his first studio album with Def Jam Records.
Linen became a criminal justice reform activist after his release from prison
Linen, who was initially facing up to 25 years behind bars, continued to deny that he was involved in the robberies and rebranded as a criminal justice reform activist upon release.
He spent years volunteering as a self-described violence interruptor and also founded Rising Kings, a non-profit group that teaches classes to inmates at Rikers Island. Linen also partnered with far-left activist Linda Sarsour — a key organizer of the 2017 Women’s March protest who has long been alleged to have ties with extremist groups — to found the group Until Freedom, a social justice activism organization.
Sarsour also serves as an adviser to the self-styled socialist mayor-elect.
“It is both disheartening and deeply disturbing that individuals who are convicted felons and have a history of breaking the law are being given the opportunity to help shape the future of New York’s criminal justice system,” Benny Boscio, president of the Correction Officers’ Benevolent Association, told The Post in response to Linen’s appointment.
“The men and women who risk their lives every day to enforce the law have been shut out from this process entirely.”
When asked why he appointed Linen to the transition team on Tuesday, Mamdani stated that he intends to take experience and analysis from all New Yorkers into account to “build a city for each and every person.”
“We put together a team of more than 400 New Yorkers who are on 17 different committees, and these are New Yorkers who bring with them both a fluency of the policies and politics of the city, the places that they’ve succeeded, the places that they’ve failed, and we will take all of their experiences and their analysis into account as we build a city for each and every person,” he told Fox News correspondent Alexis McAdams.