New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani has reportedly tapped the Until Freedom team to his Public Safety Transition Team, to help shape crime and policing policy. The team includes Tamika D. Mallory and rapper-turned-activist Mysonne Linen.
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According to an Until Freedom Instagram post from November 26, Mamdani, who won his seat in November’s election, appointed the collective to serve on his City Hall transition team as he prepares to take office in NYC on January 1, 2026.
Until Freedom, a New York City–based social-justice organization, shared the post with the accounts belonging to co-founders and civil rights and social justice activists Linen, Mallory and Angelo R. Pinto.
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The post showed the photos of the three co-founders and read: “Important Announcement. Congratulations to the Until Freedom Team for joining Mayor-Elect Zohran Mamdani’s Transition team.” The caption of the post read:
“We are proud that Until Freedom leaders have been chosen to serve on Mayor-Elect Zohran Mamdani’s transition team on committees for public safety and criminal justice respectively. This is a testament to our decades of work advocating on behalf of Black and Brown communities and our expertise in gun violence prevention, legislative advocacy and criminal justice reform. We are building something different.”
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Mysonne Linen’s Criminal Justice Past That Led To Activism And New Role Under NYC Mayor-Elect
Mamdani’s reported move has led to some controversy, specifically over Linen, who’s previously dealt with the criminal justice system himself, claiming to be falsely accused of armed robbery. Since, Linen has embedded himself in the New York City community not only as a rapper, but an activist. He’s famously posted online about anti-violence initiatives, civic engagement, and his work outside and under Until Freedom.
Linen is a Bronx, NY native who was once signed as a rapper to Def Jam Recordings. However, his past also shows he was convicted of two felony robberies back in the late 1990s. According to the New York Daily News, in 1999, a Bronx jury found him guilty in two armed robberies of taxi drivers. Linen was accused of robbing a cab driver named Joseph Exiri on June 8, 1997.
Prosecutors accused him of striking him with a beer bottle. They also alleged he held up another taxi cab driver, Francisco Monsanto, at gunpoint on March 31, 1998. He allegedly stole cash and a ring before fleeing the scene. Both Exiri and Monsanto testified and identified Linen as a suspect in a group of robbers who attacked them.
Per the New York Daily News, Linen’s defense team argued there was zero reason for him to rob the cabbies as he was making money writing songs for Lil’ Kim, Mase, and more. His lyrics also made it onto a star-studded album featuring Q-Tip, Busta Rhymes, and LL Cool J. Linen, who has maintained his innocence, citing he was falsely accused, faced up to 25 years in prison. However, he only served seven years.
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