Central Park Five’s Yusef Salaam wins Democratic city council primary

Salaam prevails over two veterans in improbable feat for political novice wrongly accused with four others of raping a woman in 1985

Yusef Salaam, one of the exonerated Central Park Five, is all but assured of a seat on the New York city council after being confirmed as the winner of a Democratic primary, an improbable feat for a political novice who was wrongly accused, convicted and imprisoned as a teenager for the rape and beating of a jogger in Central Park.

Additional votes released on Wednesday showed Salaam as the clear winner of the primary to represent Central Harlem, which took place last week.