Supporters of Yusef Salaam poured cold water over people’s calls for his resignation on social media.
It comes after the New York City Councilman’s encounter with a local police officer last week.
The incident happened in Harlem on the night of Friday, Jan. 26, and was captured on the officer’s body camera. The officer is seen approaching Salaam’s car, which had a Georgia license plate, and asking him to roll down the windows. When the officer got to the driver’s window, Salaam introduced himself.
“I’m Council Member Salaam. District 9,” he said.
“Council member? Oh okay. Have a good one,” the officer responded.
Based on the footage, the officer did not explain why Salaam was pulled over, but the NYPD later confirmed that it was because of the motivational speaker’s tinted windows, which were considered “beyond legal limits.”
Police officials championed the officer for how he conducted himself throughout the encounter.
“The driver complied and identified himself as New York City Councilmember Yusef Salaam, performing official duties, at which point the officer advised him to have a good night,” the department said in a statement, adding, “This officer should be commended for his discretion appropriately so the councilmember could complete his official duties.”
Salaam, a Democrat, is also known as a member of the exonerated “Central Park Five” — a group of young men of color who were wrongfully imprisoned for raping a white woman in the late 1980s. Their harrowing journey was depicted in the critically acclaimed Netflix limited series, “When They See Us” in 2019. Salaam was elected to the NYC…
Read the full article here
