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.
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.