Friday, June 26, 2009
Yusef Salaam (photo: Thomas Good, New Left Notes)
On June 28 New Yorkers will participate in the five-mile “Hope and Possibility” run, an event inspired by the recovery of Trisha Meili, a young woman who was raped and brutally assaulted in Central Park on April 19, 1989. In 2004, Meili finally went public and published a book, I Am the Central Park Jogger: A Story of Hope and Possibility, and she has joined the inspirational speaking circuit. But there is one aspect of the case that has been largely forgotten: the five young men who were convicted of the crime were actually innocent, and their claims for justice have been ignored by the judicial system.
In the wake of Meili’s attack, five African American and Latino youths—Yusef Salaam, Kevin Richardson, Antron McCray, Raymond Santana, and Kharey Wise—were found guilty, and spent between 7 and 13 years in prison. Upon their release they had to register as sexual offenders. It wasn’t until early 2002 that the real culprit of Meili’s assault, Matias Reyes, confessed to the crime, and DNA testing confirmed his confession. On December 19, 2002, at the request of the Manhattan District Attorney, the convictions of the five men were overturned. The Central Park Five then filed a lawsuit against the city, but that civil case is still pending in the courts more than six years later.
-Noel Brinkerhoff, David Wallechinsky
Central Park Jogger Case: Forgotten Victims (by Glyn Vincent, Huffington Post)
The Case of Yusuf Salaam (Innocence Project)
Central Park 6 Demand Compensation (by David Greaves, Our Time Press)
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