Exonerated Central Park 5 Member Bashes GOP Refrains In Wake Of Trump Indictment

Yusef Salaam, who is one of the exonerated Central Park Five, questioned what “reality” Republicans are living in following a Manhattan grand jury’s indictment of former President Donald Trump on Thursday.

Salaam spent nearly seven years in prison after he and four other Black and brown teens were wrongfully convicted in a 1989 rape case involving a white woman in Central Park.

Before the teens’ trial, Trump paid for full-page newspaper ads that called to bring back the death penalty for “criminals of every age” in response to the case.

Trump’s call “was the fire starter” toward a shift in public opinion prior to the teens’ wrongful convictions, Salaam previously said. Salaam and the other four were exonerated in 2002.

MSNBC’s Ayman Mohyeldin asked Salaam about Republicans’ “refrains” in the wake of the indictment: that if Trump can be indicted, anyone can be indicted.

“When you hear things like that, it almost makes you believe that we’re living in the same reality and the truth of the matter is that we are not living in the same reality,” said Salaam. “For someone to say that if they could do it to Trump, they could do it to anyone — they do it to Black and brown people all the time.”

Salaam, who previously referred to Trump’s indictment as “karma,” added that there are Black and brown people in prison for crimes they haven’t committed, much like he was.

“It’s a travesty of justice and the truth of the matter is that we need the legal system to work and I’m excited to see what will happen on Tuesday,” Salaam said, referring to Trump’s arraignment.