Mamdani Faces Backlash After Rikers Party Included 1 Convicted Gun Felon

3 articles · Updated · Fox News · Jul 17

Thomas McCoy, 52, was among more than 100 inmates at Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s July 15 World Cup watch party at Rikers, despite a May jury conviction on two loaded-firearm possession counts.
Court records show McCoy has been jailed 21 months, was remanded without bail after the verdict and is due to be sentenced July 22, sharpening criticism of the mayor’s visit.
The event was part of roughly 90 World Cup watch parties at the jail, where City Hall said about 4,500 of Rikers’ 6,600 inmates took part as a reward for good behavior.
Mamdani said incarcerated people remain “New Yorkers,” and Correction Commissioner Stanley Richards defended the program as improving jail safety.
The episode lands as Rikers remains under federal oversight and as Fox News Digital seeks records on which inmates were eligible and whether violent-felony defendants also attended.