Yusef Salaam, one of the five men wrongfully imprisoned for the 1989 assault and rape of Trisha Meili in Central Park, has won the Democratic primary for a New York City council seat representing Harlem.
Per the Gothamist, Salaam declared victory on Tuesday after gaining around 50 percent of the vote for the council seat. He was running against Assemblymembers Inez Dickens and Al Taylor, who garnered 25 percent and 15 percent of the vote, respectively. The Democratic district seat is currently held by Councilmember Kristin Richardson Jordan, who dropped out of the race this year.
"This campaign has been about those who have been counted out, those who have been forgotten," Salaam said following his victory. "This campaign has been about our Harlem community, who has been pushed into the margins of life and made to believe that they were supposed to be there. What has happened, in this campaign, has restored my faith in knowing that I was born for this. ... I am here because, Harlem, you believed in me."
At his victory party, Salaam was joined by Manhattan Democratic Chair Keith Wright, who was partly responsible for getting him to run for the city council seat to begin with. "I'm reminded of what Muhammad Ali said ... he said 'We're going to shock the world,'" said Wright, whose son Jordan worked as Salaam's campaign manager. "Harlem is back. Harlem's back."
Salaam was wrongfully imprisoned for the assault and rape of Meili and served six years and eight months in prison. The case of the Central Park Five was one of the most widely reported to hit the city of NYC, and it was adapted into the Netflix-produced drama series When They See Us in 2019.
Donald Trump infamously bought out full-page newspaper advertisements calling for the state of New York to introduce the death penalty. While he didn't explicitly call for their execution, the implication of the advertisements was abundantly clear. Trump refused to apologize for the advertisements, despite the fact all five men were exonerated in 2002. They later sued the city of New York and were awarded $41 million in a settlement in 2014. Another man, who was serving time in prison for different assaults, confessed to the attack while the Central Park Five were behind bars.
Salaam issued a one-word statement in response to Donald Trump's indictment in New York earlier this year. “For those asking about my statement on the indictment of Donald Trump—who never said sorry for calling for my execution—here it is: Karma,” tweeted Salaam.
