New York continues to find the best people to manage the best public initiatives:
The director of a Bronx anti-violence program listed as part of Mayor Eric Adams' plan to curb shootings was hit with drug and gun charges in a massive upstate bust, The Post has learned.
Michael Rodriguez, 48, head of Bronx Rises Against Gun Violence (BRAG), was among 15 suspects charged in the drug conspiracy case, the Orange County District Attorney's Office said Tuesday.
In addition to being accused of "supplying drugs to dealers in Middletown and Port Jervis to be sold on the streets," police also found two illegal guns at Rodriguez's home.
This is New York, of course, where pretty much everything other than a 1950s comic-book spud-gun is considered illegal. Still, when the head of an anti-gun-violence group is breaking gun laws — in addition to apparently running drugs — it does suggest that maybe you made a bad hiring decision.
Bronx District Attorney Darcel Clark said Rodriguez has "attended anti-violence events and peace marches portraying himself as someone who cares about stopping the violence in our community." So you can tell they're a bit miffed at being embarrassed like this.
But this keeps happening. Earlier this year, Baltimore police killed a man attacking a woman with a knife. That same man had gotten national media attention in 2022 for putting up "No Shoot Zone" signs everywhere and was heralded as an anti-violence activist.
