Free but still seeking justice

originally published: 29th April 2009

Twenty years ago in April, the Central Park Jogger case grabbed headlines and intensified the law-and-order frenzy promoted by politicians and the media.

After the rape of a woman in New York City’s Central Park, the media filled the airwaves with allegations about “wilding”–senseless acts of terror supposedly committed by packs of Black and Latino youth against respectable citizens. Five young African American men were arrested in the jogger case–Antron McCray, Kevin Richardson, Yusef Salaam, Raymond Santana and Kharey Wise, later known as the “Central Park Five.”

They became the face of the panic. Multimillionaire Donald Trump took out newspaper ads calling for the reinstatement of the death penalty as punishment in the Central Park jogger case.

But the five were entirely innocent. They were fully exonerated only in 2002 when another man, Matias Reyes, confessed to the crime, and DNA evidence confirmed him as the attacker. All five lost years of their lives in jail.

Yusef Salaam is known today as an outspoken activist–not just around his own case, but against the death penalty and what he calls the “criminal system of injustice.” On the 20th anniversary of his arrest, he spoke to Ben Davis about the case and the struggle he’s a part of today.

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Posted by Administrator on 17/05/2009. Filed under Questionable Convictions,Race & Society. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. Both comments and pings are currently closed.