Arrested Cornell Laptop Thief is Local Rapper, Mother is Tompkins County Legislator
On Tuesday evening Cornell University Police(CUPD) arrested Kelsey McBean in the McGraw clock tower after he reportedly stole a laptop from Olin Library and threatened to brandish a knife towards students.
According to the CUPD daily crime log, McBean was referred to Ithaca City Court. At approximately 4:00 pm Wednesday, McBean posted on his Facebook page “fif”, a possible reference to the 5th Amendment protection against self-incrimination.
McBean has been a performing artist with Smacked Records since 2010, according to his LinkedIn profile. His stage name is “Mr. McBean” and he maintains a Sound Cloud page. The most played song is “Sum Reel Shit Prod. Eyukaliptus” uploaded a year ago.
McBean has run in with the police before, when he allegedly pulled a knife during a street fight in Ithaca in June 2013. The Finger Lakes Daily News reported that McBean was 18 years old at the time.
McBean’s mother, Leslyn McBean-Clairborn, is an elected Democrat on the Tompkins County Legislator representing District 1 in Ithaca. She chairs the Health and Human Services and Workforce Diversity and Inclusion committees, and sits on the Budget, Capital, and Personnel and Old Library Committees.
McBean’s father, or step-father, unsuccessfully ran for mayor of Ithaca in 2013 as a Democrat.
