Yusef Salaam, who was wrongly convicted in 1989 and acquitted 13 years later in the Central Park Five Case, has won a Democratic primary for a seat on New York City’s Central Harlem City Council. American media report this on Wednesday. With this he is almost certain of the council seat.
Salaam became internationally known when he was arrested as a 15-year-old for the assault and rape of a white woman who was jogging in New York’s Central Park. The 28-year-old woman, Trisha Meili, was raped on April 19, 1989 and abused to such an extent that she was in a coma for twelve days and could not remember what had happened. The attack led to social unrest and pressure on the police to arrest suspects.
Soon five teenagers, four black and one Latino, were rounded up and sentenced to years in prison, despite inconsistent confessions, a lack of eyewitness accounts and DNA evidence that ruled them out as perpetrators. Known as the Central Park Five, the teens said they were coerced into making false confessions, which they later recanted.
Capital punishment
Former President Donald Trump, then a businessman, placed full-page advertisements for the lawsuit in several newspapers, including The New York Times, calling for the return of the death penalty. “How can our great society tolerate the continued brutalization of its citizens at the hands of deranged misfits?” Trump wrote in the 600-word ad, topped in bold: Bring Back the Death Penalty.
But in early 2000, another suspect—a serial rapist—confessed to committing the crime. His DNA was later linked to the case and two years later all five teens were acquitted. The victims received compensation totaling 41 million dollars (about 37 million euros).
Seven years in prison
Salaam ended up serving seven years in prison. After his release, he moved to the southern state of Georgia, where he became an activist for reform of the American criminal justice system. In December last year he moved to New York, after which he ran for city council.
During his election campaign, Salaam often referred to his conviction and the nearly seven years he spent in prison. In a recent interview, Salaam said his win gave him back “faith that what happened to me was just for this moment.” He also made that message clear when he posted his own full-page ad, with the headline: Bring Back Justice & Fairness.