‘When They See Us’ incites boycott of former prosecutor Linda Fairstein

By Terry Shropshire

Former prosecutor Linda Fairstein is forced to see us now.

Terry Shropshire

The electrifying Netflix miniseries “When They See Us,” which is the true story of the “Central Park 5” teens that Fairstein wrongly prosecuted for the rape of female jogger Trisha Meili in the 1980s, is inspiring a major revolt against her.

Fairstein has since gone on to become a bestselling novelist under the name Alexandra Cooper, where she writes about her experiences as a New York City prosecutor.

Despite the ferocious blowback to Fairstein’s work that sent the men to prison for many years, she still stands by her decision and says it was wrong to overturn the convictions, according to the New Yorker.

But in 2014, NYC ended up paying $40M to the freed Central Park Five —  Antron McCray, Kevin Richardson, Yusef Salaam, Raymond Santana, and Korey Wise — after Matias Reyes confessed to the crimes in 2002 and his DNA matched the evidence.

Even more damning is the fact that Fairstein helped disgraced movie mogul Harvey Weinstein evade prosecution for sexual improprieties, even as Weinstein later confessed to the crimes while being secretly recorded:

Fairstein has heard the backlash. According to BET.com, Fairstein has been forced to shut down all of her social media accounts since the four-part miniseries premiered on May 31.

Someone has also ravaged Fairstein’s Wikipedia page:

Ava DuVernay (director of Selma, A Wrinkle in Time, and OWN’s “Queen Sugar”) created, wrote and directed “When They See Us,” which painstakingly and heartbreakingly details all of what those teens endured and how Fairstein prosecuted them without physical evidence.

Unsurprisingly, folks are going after Fairstein full throttle, with Newsweek reporting that social media users created the hashtags #CancelLindaFairstein and #BOYCOTTSIMONSCHUSTER, in order to get Simon & Schuster to drop the author from their roster.

According to Esquire, the Mystery Writers of America rescinded the prestigious Grand Master title, a lifetime achievement award given to Fairstein, after other authors protested because of her work on the Central Park Five.

Also, there is a Change.org petition that demands publishers and booksellers cease the production and sales of Fairstein’s novels.

And, of course, Twitter and Instagram users are steadily ripping Fairstein without relent:

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