New York City Councilman Yusef Salaam says he was stopped by a municipal police officer without explanation as he drove with his family through Harlem on Friday night.
Salaam says he introduced himself as Councilman Yusef Salaam and asked the officer why he was pulled over, but the officer responded with “We’re done here” and walked away.
Body-worn camera video does not show Salaam asking the officer why he was stopped. The video does show the officer clearly identified himself as being from the 26th Precinct.
Salaam’s car reportedly had a Georgia license plate and was stopped because officers thought its windows were tinted too dark, possibly in violation of New York motor vehicle law.
The incident occurred just as the City Council plans an override vote on NYC Mayor Eric Adams’ veto of a bill that would require cops to document their street stops.
Salaam, chairman of its Public Safety Committee, was one of the Central Park 5 teens wrongly convicted in the 1989 Central Park jogger rape case and was exonerated after spending years in prison.