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Newly elected NYC councilman, Yusef Salaam was pulled over while he was going for dinner with his family. Salaam had his wife and four kids with him when officers pulled him over. When he asked the officer the reason being the traffic stop, the officer reportedly just said,
"Take care, sir."
Salaam and his supporters, who emphasized the significance of police transparency, are outraged by this. NYPD has further released the bodycam footage on X on January 28, which captured the interaction between Salaam and the police officer. In a statement released by the NYPD, Salaam had illegally tinted car windows, and that's why he was pulled over.
Yusef Salaam's traffic stop footage has been released by the NYPD, who have further claimed that there was substantial reason to pull him over
On Friday, January 26, Yusef Salaam was driving downtown with his family, when he was pulled over by NYPD officers. According to Salaam when he asked the officer the reason behind being stopped, the officer didn't give an answer. The officer allegedly asked him if he was working, to which he said that he was, as reported by The New York Times.
Despite Salaam and his allies' allegations against the police that they aren't transparent when it comes to pulling over New Yorkers, the department stated that the reason behind the traffic stop was illegally tinted windows in Yusef Salaam's vehicle. According to the statement issued by NYPD, the NYC councilman also had a Georgia license plate. The traffic stop has further been defended by Mayor Eric Adams.
The news station further reported the first interview given by Salaam, after the incident. He reportedly mentioned that while police aren't obligated to cite a reason behind such stops, it should have happened voluntarily. He added:
"We know that the danger is there every single time a Black man in particular gets behind the wheel of a car."
Salaam claimed that he didn't use his position to avoid getting a ticket
The New York Times confirmed that authorities have not released the identity or the race of the officer who interacted with Yusef Salaam during the traffic stop. Crime Online reported Salaam's statement about the incident, where he said,
"This experience only amplified the importance of transparency for all police investigative stops, because the lack of transparency allows racial profiling and unconstitutional stops of all types to occur and often go unreported."
While several people including Salaam spoke against the stop, it was defended by many. Robert Holden, a co-chairman of the conservative Common Sense caucus, believes that he should resign from his post. According to Holden, Yusef Salaam used his position to escape legal consequences. Joseph Borelli, the Council’s Republican minority leader, said,
"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 has, however, denied the allegations of using his title to evade any rule. He claimed that he was about to change his vehicle registration from Georgia to New York. He also claimed that he was unaware of the rule that tinted glasses were illegal in New York City since they were legal in Georgia.
