Yusef Salaam, a member of the exonerated “Central Park Five,” has been elected to the New York City Council.
After winning the general election unopposed on Tuesday, Salaam will now represent Harlem on the city council. Running as a Democrat, he handily won the primary back in June, receiving more than 50 percent of the vote.
Salaam’s campaign was centered on equity and the empowerment of marginalized groups; housing, environmental and economic justice; safety and human infrastructure, according to his website. He also touted his distinct experience with the justice system, citing an advocacy for criminal justice and other community issues that gave him a distinct edge over his competitors.
“Today we stand here together not as separate individuals, but as a united force that has collectively triumphed over adversity, as a community that has chosen hope over fear and as a movement that has embraced the power of generational change. I am deeply humbled and honored to stand before you as the newly-elected city councilman for the legendary village of Harlem,” Salaam said Tuesday night.
WATCH THE VIDEO OF SALAAM’S SPEECH HERE.
After being wrongfully convicted of rape more than 30 years ago in a notorious case that made national headlines, Salaam’s fortunes have shifted entirely over the last three decades.
Part of why Salaam’s case gained national notoriety was because of full-page ads former president and now-criminal defendant Donald Trump purchased to publicize his desire to reinstate the death penalty in New York as a capital punishment for Salaam and the other four young men who were wrongfully accused of the crime.
And now, in an incredible turn of events, it is Trump who is in dire legal straits, facing multiple criminal indictments in several jurisdictions as well as a lawsuit brought by the state of New York, which accused him of falsifying business records.
Trump and his adult sons were all found liable for inflating Trump’s net worth and the value of his flagship real estate company, the Trump Organization, and several of his assets, including Florida resort Mar-A-Lago. Now, a trial is underway to determine the damages the family will face. He could face a fine and be barred from doing business in the city, where Salaam now holds office.
“Karma is real, and we have to remember that,” Salaam said in an interview, according to The New York Times.
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