“Hurricane” Carter Passes Away

Wrongfully convicted for murder, and inspiration for the Denzel Washington movie “Huricane”, former boxer Rubin Carter died at the age of 76.

Mr John Artis his long-time friend and care giver stated that Carter passed away in his sleep on Sunday after suffering from prostate cancer.

In 1966 Carter was wrongfully convicted of the murder of three white men in Paterson, New Jersey.  In 1967 he was convicted alongside Mr Artis and again in 1976. The last being on the testimony of two thieves who recanted their testimonies later on.

In 1985 Carter was finally freed after spending years in appeals and public advocacy. During his time in prisona network of friends and volunteers, including Muhammad Ali called for Carter’s release from prison.

As his ordeal became an international symbol it inspired the song Hurricane by Bob Dylan in 1975 and the Academy Award nominated movie of the same name, starring Denzel Washington, in 1999.

Carter’s convictions ended his boxing career abruptly as he went 27-12-1 with 19 knockouts but never held a belt. His most famous win was against Emile Griffith, whom he stopped in the first round in 1963. He fought for the middleweight title in 1964 but lost to Joey Giardello by unanimous decision.

In a PBS interview in 2011, Carter said: “I wouldn’t give up. No matter that they sentenced me to three life terms in prison.

“I wouldn’t give up. Just because a jury of 12 misinformed people … found me guilty did not make me guilty. And because I was not guilty, I refused to act like a guilty person.”

After his release, Carter moved to Toronto, where he served as the executive director of the Association in Defence of the Wrongly Convicted from 1993 to 2005.

Until his death Carter continued his work in advocating for prisoners he believed to be wrongfully convicted.