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Exonerated member of 'Central Park Five' takes lead in New York City Council primary

Exonerated member of 'Central Park Five' takes lead in New York City Council primary
I am one of the formerly known members of the Central Park five. Now we're known as the exonerated five. And here we are 34 years later and I've mounted uh my campaign to run for city council in the ninth district in Harlem. People do remember the story, but people are so thankful that I'm running for office. They're telling me that I provide that hope that they've been looking for. So you gotta imagine, you know, in 1989 the city looked at the color of our skin. We're talking about *** government that says that you're innocent until proven guilty. But yet for black and brown boys, they were looking at the color of our skin and they judged us by it. They said we were guilty and we had to prove ourselves innocent. I did almost seven years in prison for *** crime that I did not commit. They found out the truth 13 years later. So in 2002, from 1989 until 2002, we were under the awful stigma of being labeled rapists. No, we are still living in *** very divided America, separate and unequal the hardest part is to overcome the fact that you could be seen just for the color of your skin as *** crime. But they did that same thing to Emmett till they did the same thing to the Scottsboro Boys. They did that to Brianna Taylor to Ray Graham, to Eric Gardner. Coming back home in many ways is like me, coming back to the scene of the crime, but I needed to learn how to become courageous. Being *** victim is so difficult because you don't want this to happen to anyone else. And in many ways, you want your privacy, you need to heal, you need to be able to be made whole. But the best way I think to effectually change is to turn your pain into purpose. You have to, you have to be able to say this happened for *** reason.
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Exonerated member of 'Central Park Five' takes lead in New York City Council primary
Yusef Salaam, who as a child was part of a group of teenagers wrongly accused, convicted and imprisoned for the rape of a woman jogging in Central Park, took a commanding lead Tuesday in a Democratic primary for a City Council seat in New York.Salaam faces two veteran politicians, New York Assembly members Al Taylor, 65, and Inez Dickens, 73, in the race for a seat representing part of Harlem. The incumbent, democratic socialist Kristin Richard Jordan, dropped out of the race in May but remained on the ballot.The contest was taking place more than two decades after Salaam and four other men 바카라 게임 웹사이트 known as the "Central Park Five" 바카라 게임 웹사이트 were exonerated by DNA evidence in one of the city's most notorious and racially fraught crimes.The Associated Press has not declared a winner in the race and the election's outcome might not be certain for days because of New York's ranked-choice voting rules. That system kicks in if no candidate claims more than 50% of the total vote.It was unclear early Wednesday whether Salaam would stay above that threshold. With about 95% of votes counted, Salaam had a little less than 51% of the vote, with Dickens trailing substantially in second place.Salaam nonetheless declared victory in a speech to supporters late Tuesday."What has happened in this campaign has restored my faith in knowing that I was born for this," he said.Salaam likened his youthful imprisonment to being "kidnapped," but he also called his nearly seven years in prison a gift that allowed him to see a racially unjust criminal justice system from the "belly of the beast.""I am here because, Harlem, you believed in me," he said.Dickens conceded late Tuesday, but promised to "continue to fight for what my community needs."If Salaam were to prevail in the primary it would virtually assure him a general election victory in a district unlikely to elect a Republican. It is his first time seeking public office.While all three candidates focused on promoting affordable housing, controlling gentrification and easing poverty in Harlem, Salaam capitalized on his celebrity in neighborhoods that consider the Central Park Five 바카라 게임 웹사이트 also called the Exonerated Five 바카라 게임 웹사이트 living symbols of the injustices faced by the Black and Latino residents who make up about three-fourths of the district's population.Salaam was 15 when he was arrested in 1989 and accused, along with four other Black and brown teenagers 바카라 게임 웹사이트 Antron McCray, Kevin Richardson, Raymond Santana and Korey Wise 바카라 게임 웹사이트 of beating and raping a woman in Central Park.Members of the group served between five and 12 years in prison before prosecutors agreed to reexamine the case. DNA evidence and a confession ultimately linked a serial rapist and murderer to the attack. The convictions were vacated in 2002 and the city ultimately agreed in a legal settlement to pay the exonerated men $41 million."When people look at me and they know my story, they resonate with it," Salaam told The Associated Press in an interview before the election. "But now here we are 34 years later, and I'm able to use that platform that I have and repurpose the pain, help people as we climb out of despair."New York City's ranked-choice voting rules allow voters to rank the candidates by order of preference. Because of the complexity of the system, it has become tricky to forecast a winner.If one candidate is the first choice of a majority of voters 바카라 게임 웹사이트 more than 50% 바카라 게임 웹사이트 that person wins the race outright, just like in a traditional election. But if that threshold isn't met, the eventual winner will be determined by ranked-choice voting. That means the vote count is conducted in rounds. The candidate with the lowest number of first-choice votes is eliminated, and that person's votes are redistributed to those voters' second choices.That analysis can't be performed until all absentee ballots have been received, a process expected to take around a week.

Yusef Salaam, who as a child was part of a group of teenagers wrongly accused, convicted and imprisoned for the rape of a woman jogging in Central Park, took a commanding lead Tuesday in a Democratic primary for a City Council seat in New York.

Salaam faces two veteran politicians, New York Assembly members Al Taylor, 65, and Inez Dickens, 73, in the race for a seat representing part of Harlem. The incumbent, democratic socialist Kristin Richard Jordan, dropped out of the race in May but remained on the ballot.

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The contest was taking place more than two decades after Salaam and four other men 바카라 게임 웹사이트 known as the "Central Park Five" 바카라 게임 웹사이트 were exonerated by DNA evidence in one of the city's most notorious and racially fraught crimes.

The Associated Press has not declared a winner in the race and the election's outcome might not be certain for days because of New York's ranked-choice voting rules. That system kicks in if no candidate claims more than 50% of the total vote.

It was unclear early Wednesday whether Salaam would stay above that threshold. With about 95% of votes counted, Salaam had a little less than 51% of the vote, with Dickens trailing substantially in second place.

Salaam nonetheless declared victory in a speech to supporters late Tuesday.

"What has happened in this campaign has restored my faith in knowing that I was born for this," he said.

Salaam likened his youthful imprisonment to being "kidnapped," but he also called his nearly seven years in prison a gift that allowed him to see a racially unjust criminal justice system from the "belly of the beast."

"I am here because, Harlem, you believed in me," he said.

Dickens conceded late Tuesday, but promised to "continue to fight for what my community needs."

If Salaam were to prevail in the primary it would virtually assure him a general election victory in a district unlikely to elect a Republican. It is his first time seeking public office.

While all three candidates focused on promoting affordable housing, controlling gentrification and easing poverty in Harlem, Salaam capitalized on his celebrity in neighborhoods that consider the Central Park Five 바카라 게임 웹사이트 also called the Exonerated Five 바카라 게임 웹사이트 living symbols of the injustices faced by the Black and Latino residents who make up about three-fourths of the district's population.

Salaam was 15 when he was arrested in 1989 and accused, along with four other Black and brown teenagers 바카라 게임 웹사이트 Antron McCray, Kevin Richardson, Raymond Santana and Korey Wise 바카라 게임 웹사이트 of beating and raping a woman in Central Park.

Members of the group served between five and 12 years in prison before prosecutors agreed to reexamine the case. DNA evidence and a confession ultimately linked a serial rapist and murderer to the attack. The convictions were vacated in 2002 and the city ultimately agreed in a legal settlement to pay the exonerated men $41 million.

"When people look at me and they know my story, they resonate with it," Salaam told The Associated Press in an interview before the election. "But now here we are 34 years later, and I'm able to use that platform that I have and repurpose the pain, help people as we climb out of despair."

New York City's ranked-choice voting rules allow voters to rank the candidates by order of preference. Because of the complexity of the system, it has become tricky to forecast a winner.

If one candidate is the first choice of a majority of voters 바카라 게임 웹사이트 more than 50% 바카라 게임 웹사이트 that person wins the race outright, just like in a traditional election. But if that threshold isn't met, the eventual winner will be determined by ranked-choice voting. That means the vote count is conducted in rounds. The candidate with the lowest number of first-choice votes is eliminated, and that person's votes are redistributed to those voters' second choices.

That analysis can't be performed until all absentee ballots have been received, a process expected to take around a week.