According to CBS News, Dr. Yusef Salaam, one of the “Central Park Five” members who was cleared, has declared his campaign for a seat on the New York City Council. Salaam, along with Antron McCray, Kevin Richardson, Raymond Santana, and Korey Wise—now collectively referred to as the “Exonerated Five”—served seven to thirteen years in jail after being found guilty of savagely beating and raping a white female runner in Central Park in 1989.
The five men were later cleared in 2002 after rapist Matias Reyes admitted to the crime and provided Genetic proof to back up his account.
Salaam, who is now an author, activist, supporter of criminal justice reform, and motivational speaker, spent over seven years behind bars.
For the position of Council District 9, Salaam is running. According to ABC7 New York, the region includes portions of Harlem, Morningside Heights, and the Upper West Side. Inez Dickens, Al Taylor, and incumbent Kristin Richardson Jordan of the Assembly are the other contenders for the district.
During an interview with CBS News, Salaam touched on the policies he’s going to champion or support if he wins the seat. “We’re definitely looking at housing, and affordable housing, at that,” he said. “We’re looking at safety. We’re looking at mental health. We’re looking at education.”
Salaam also touched on Tyre Nichols’ killing. When he was asked about his reaction to the fatal encounter, Salaam said, “Here, yet again, is a young man crying out for his mother, crying out for help.”
“I am Tyre Nichols,” he said when he was asked if he relates to the answer he gave. “Now he’s yet another example of why we need to look at policing and say, how do we fix this system?”
Salaam then went ahead to share some ideas on what can be done with regard to police reform. “You have to have components of training,” he said when he was asked what can be done. “I think part of the challenge is if police officers are protecting the communities that they live in, that’s a whole different spectrum.”
The interviewer then asked Salaam if he was going to propose that kind of reform. “You’ve got to live, say in Harlem, if you’re a Harlem cop?” the interviewer asked.
Salaam replied: “You have to live in Harlem if you’re a Harlem cop. Why? Because you offer a certain level of protection, and because you are also one of the members of our community, you also expect a certain level of protection.”
Asked about the lesson of his life story, Salaam said “you have to hold on, that every single one of us were born on purpose, and born with a purpose.”
He added: “And the beauty of that is that we know this because we made it. And we were chosen, we survived. And here we are. And in Harlem, I see people surviving. I want us to thrive.”