Mamdani Taps Felon Who Served 7 Years for Robbing NYC Taxi Drivers as ‘Criminal Legal System’ Adviser

Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani tapped a convicted felon who served seven years for a string of armed robberies targeting New York City taxi drivers to advise him on the “criminal legal system.”

Mysonne Linen, a rapper-turned-social justice activist, will serve on Mamdani’s “criminal legal system committee,” 1 of 17 committees that Mamdani created to help transition into his administration. Mamdani said the appointees “will be tasked with not only making personnel recommendations but policy recommendations.”

Linen served seven years in prison for armed robberies in 1997 and 1998. {snip}

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Mamdani, who has called taxi drivers the “unsung heroes” of New York City, has made other controversial additions to his transition team. Lumumba Bandele, a community organizer behind campaigns to free several black nationalists convicted of murdering police officers, will serve on Mamdani’s community organizing committee. Mamdani picked Alex Vitale, the author of The End of Policing, to serve on his community safety committee. Tamika Mallory, who was booted from the Women’s March in 2019 amid allegations of anti-Semitism, will also serve on the community safety committee.

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Linen cofounded the activist group Until Freedom with Mallory and Linda Sarsour, an anti-Israel activist and early Mamdani backer. Until Freedom is behind the “We Ain’t Buying It” campaign, which urges black consumers to boycott Target, Amazon, and Home Depot for “enabling” various Trump administration policies.

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Linen has made other controversial statements over the years. “The white man has killed, raped, destroyed my culture!” Linen wrote. “I’ve been taught since birth and witnessed that white people hate me, do you not understand the reality of a black man in America??”

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