REMARKS
Council Member Yusef Salaam on Reflecting Personal Experience with Wrongful Conviction
0:40:54
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165 sec
Council Member Yusef Salaam reflects on their personal journey through the criminal legal system, detailing their wrongful conviction and its aftermath.
He shares the distressing experience of being wrongfully implicated in crimes, the real perpetrator continuing his crimes, and the tragic killing of Lourdes Gonzales and her unborn children.
He highlights the impact on the families and communities affected, arguing for the need for better protections in the criminal legal system.
Yusef Salaam
0:40:54
You know, I'm I'm I'm listening and considering all of the testimony today.
0:40:59
And I can't help but reflect on my personal journey through the criminal legal system.
0:41:05
You know, we were placed in lineups, and we were not identified by anyone in those lineups, but yet we still went to prison for those crimes that we didn't commit.
0:41:17
And one of the worst parts about that case as an example, is that the real perpetrator was out there actually committing more crimes, ultimately killing or his his his model from his own mouth was your eyes or your life, that he was taking his victims' eyes or if they if they wanted to live, he would take their eyes.
0:41:44
And at the end of his crimesbee, he was just killing them.
0:41:48
I believe Amy Goodman was living in the building that housed Lourdes Gonzales, who was a pregnant, young pregnant Latino woman.
0:41:57
And, you know, our our families, the communities, they kept crying out and saying, these guys didn't do it.
0:42:05
You guys have to look for the real perpetrator of the crime.
0:42:08
And the worst part like I said is that that perpetrator, even though he was caught months later, He actually killed his last victim, Lotus Gonzales, who could have been alive today.
0:42:18
You know, he killed her and her unborn children.
0:42:21
And his testimony was so disturbing.
0:42:25
He said that, you know, when he when he went into her home, he brandished a knife.
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And She pleaded with him and asked him, can I just put my children?
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She was there with her children.
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Can I put my children in the next room?
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And he'd said, sure.
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She then put her children in the next room and I can imagine I'm not a woman nor have I ever been raped.
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But I can imagine that she probably said to herself This is gonna be the absolute worst experience that I've ever had, but I'm gonna get through it.
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He then raped her and then began to stab her to death.
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And The tenants in the building that Amy Goodman was in came out of their homes, hearing the cries of Lotus Gonzales.
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And they held him until the police department came to get him.
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It's one of the most sad examples of why we need protections and, you know, this lady could have been alive today.
0:43:30
Her her husband could have appreciated the fact that he still had a wife and Her children could have appreciated the fact that she was still alive as well.