Yusef Salaam
Yusef Salaam |
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Yusef Salaam is an American politician was wrongfully convicted of playing a role in the 1989 Central Park jogger case.[1][2]
Suspicion, false confession, conviction and sentence
[edit | edit source]In 1989 a 28-year-old investment banker was raped, and almost beaten to death, while jogging in New York City's Central Park. The attack triggered a kind of frenzy, with real-estate developer Donald Trump demanding a return to the death penalty. In this context prosecutors broke the rules, and subjected suspects, including Salaam, who ranged in age from 14-16, to grueling interrogations, without the presense of the their parents.[1] The law requires the presence of parents when youths are being interrogated.
Salaam and the other individuals recanted their confessions.[1] Nevertheless, the confessions were allowed, and the youths were convicted, based solely on that evidence.
In 2002 Korey Wise, one of the other wrongfully convicted individuals told another prisoner, convicted rapist Matias Reyes, about his case.[2] Reyes realized that this was a rape he had committed and came clean to authorities. When his DNA matched that found on the victim, and his voluntary confession more closely lined up with the details of the case, Salaam, and the other men, were exonerated.
Election
[edit | edit source]Salaam was elected to New York City's council in 2023.[1]
Ken Burns, a director of the documentary "Central Park Five", called Salaam's election "a testament to the resilience of the man who is about to take this position, and I think we can only just stand in awe."[1]
Denounced by candidate Donald Trump, in 2024
[edit | edit source]The five men sued candidate Donald Trump after he denounced them during an event in the 2024 Presidential election.[3] They claim he defamed them by repeating the claims that they had raped and beaten a victim, even though their conviction had established their innocence.
References
[edit | edit source]- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4
Katherine Rosman (2023-12-31). "He Was One of the Central Park Five. Now He's Councilman Yusef Salaam". The New York Times. Retrieved 2024-12-16.
In 1990, Mr. Salaam was sent to prison as one of the “Central Park Five.” This summer, he beat two incumbent State Assembly members in a Democratic primary and officially won the Council seat in an uncontested election in November. He will take office on New Year’s Day.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 "National Registry of Exonerations". University of Michigan Law School. 2024-12-16. Retrieved 2024-12-16.
- ↑
Mary Whitfill Roeloffs (2024-10-21). "Central Park 5 Sue Trump For Defamation After He Again Blamed Them For Crime During Presidential Debate". Forbes magazine. Archived from the original on 2024-10-29. Retrieved 2025-02-05.
The five men maintained their innocence throughout their trial, conviction and years spent in prison before they were exonerated in 2002 following the confession of convicted rapist and murderer Matias Reyes.