Exonerated 5, Yusef Salaam Called To Resign As NYC Councilman

Councilman Yusef Salaam is facing calls to resign from his position as the head of the council’s public safety committee following a contentious traffic stop.

BET News reports New York City Councilman Yusef Salaam is under scrutiny and facing calls to resign as the head of the council’s public safety committee. This comes after a contentious traffic stop on Jan. 26 that revealed he was driving with out-of-state license plates and allegedly illegally tinted windows.

Salaam is accused of embellishing the details of his encounter with an NYPD officer in Harlem on Friday night. The officer pulled him over for the tinted windows but reportedly showed leniency when Salaam identified himself as a councilman. The incident has ignited controversy, leading some fellow council members to question Salaam’s actions and credibility.

This is damning: an elected official with illegal tints and out-of-state plates, not legally registered, using his official title to evade the law. Worse yet, he lied about the exchange until NYPD set the record straight. CM Salaam should resign as Public Safety Chair. https://t.co/mJ2a8XYy1O
— Robert Holden (@BobHoldenNYC) January 27, 2024

Councilman Joe Borelli (R-Staten Island) joined the criticism online, emphasizing that the entire incident was captured on police bodycam footage. Borelli remarked on X, “What is sad is taking an incident where someone cuts you a break, does right by you, and then misrepresenting the truth to get them in trouble.”

Salaam, known for being one of the exonerated “Central Park Five,” has not responded to multiple requests for comment. However, his office confirmed that he had Georgia license plates on his car until just this week, despite having lived in New York and holding office for two years.

According to Board of Elections records, Salaam registered to vote in the state on July 27, 2022 and had a legal obligation to transfer his Georgia vehicle registration to New York within 30 days. The fact that he still had Georgia plates when pulled over has raised questions about his compliance with vehicle registration regulations.

The controversy surrounding Salaam’s traffic stop has fueled a broader discussion about transparency, accountability, and adherence to the law among elected officials, particularly those holding influential positions related to public safety.