In 1998, JJ Velazquez was wrongfully convicted for the murder of a retired police officer. Eyewitnesses of the crime described the suspect as a black male with braids. JJ, a Latino man whose hair didn't match the description, was nonetheless made a suspect in the crime. JJ was eventually found guilty and sentenced to 25 years to life at Sing Sing. He spent 23 years, 8 months, and 11 days wrongly imprisoned.

Activist and actor JJ Velazquez discusses the decades-long fight for freedom and what it meant for him to finally be exonerated this year. 

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