Harlem Lawmaker Brings 'Exonerated 5' To Congress

HARLEM, NY — Three of the men who were wrongly convicted of attacking a jogger in a landmark case that became known as the Central Park Five spoke to members of Congress on Wednesday, discussing criminal justice reform in a moment where it is front-of-mind in the national discussion.

Raymond Santana, Yusef Salaam and Korey Wise are part of the group now known as the Exonerated Five, who were teenagers on April 19, 1989, when a 28-year-old female jogger was brutally assaulted in Central Park.

On Wednesday, days after the 32nd anniversary of that night, Santana, Salaam and Wise made their virtual visit to the Capitol at the invitation of U.S. Rep. Adriano Espaillat, who represents Upper Manhattan. (The event was originally set to be an in-person visit).

The men planned to discuss criminal justice reform, with their visit coming one day after former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin was convicted of murder for killing George Floyd.

The five men were all raised in Harlem, are all Black and Latino, and were between 14 and 16 years old when the attack happened. They had been in the park for unrelated reasons that night.

After serving between six and 13 years in prison, the five men were exonerated in 2002 through DNA evidence and a confession by the true assailant.

Santana, Salaam and Wise held a virtual conversation Wednesday afternoon, joined by Speaker Nancy Pelosi, U.S. Rep. Karen Bass and Espaillat, discussing possible changes to the criminal justice system.

Pelosi praised the men for their advocacy since leaving prison, while the men, in turn, pressed the lawmakers for further reforms.

"We have to come from a viewpoint of rehabilitation, not punishment," Santana told the group.

Santana and Salaam both endorsed the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act, a bill being negotiated in Congress that would ban chokeholds; end "qualified immunity," which can shield officers from lawsuits; and ban no-knock warrants for federal drug investigations, among other provisions.

Salaam said those reforms, while welcome, would be only a first step.

"Then we could begin to look at the other things," he said.