New York City’s Democratic Socialist Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani has shocked taxpayers by appointing a convicted felon to his transition team. The new appointee, rapper-turned-activist Mysonne Linen, 49, spent seven years in state prison for armed robbery.
Linen will sit on the Mayor-elect’s powerful "criminal legal system committee." This is a clear signal that Mamdani plans to prioritize criminals over public safety.
Linen’s history includes terrifying and violent crimes. In 1997, he was part of a group that robbed taxi driver Joseph Eziri and attacked him with a beer bottle. He was also accused of holding cabbie Francisco Monsanto at gunpoint in 1998, stealing cash and jewelry.
The rapper co-founded the radical organization Until Freedom, which announced the appointment. The group claims this is a "testament" to their "expertise in gun violence prevention" and "criminal justice reform."
Linen’s past statements confirm his radical worldview. In 2018, he posted on X: "The white man has killed, raped, destroyed my culture! Should I not be scared!!"
He has also shown disrespect for law enforcement and the justice system. Linen previously claimed he did not commit the crime, but said he never would have gone to jail if he had cooperated with the police.
Adding to the controversy, Linen was also caught using anti-gay slurs in social media posts as recently as 2010. Mayor-elect Mamdani is stacking his team with activists who have a history of crime and extreme, divisive rhetoric.