Rubin 'Hurricane' Carter struck a blow over racial injustice

Rubin “Hurricane” Carter, the boxer whose wrongful murder conviction became an international symbol of racial injustice, has died at 76.

John Artis, a longtime friend, said Carter died in his sleep yesterday.  Carter had been stricken with prostate cancer in Toronto, the New Jersey native’s adopted home.

Carter spent 19 years in prison for three murders at a tavern in Paterson, New Jersey, in 1966. He was convicted alongside Artis in 1967 and again in a new trial in 1976.

Carter was freed in November 1985 when his convictions were set aside after years of appeals and public advocacy. His ordeal and the alleged racial motivations behind it were publicised in Bob Dylan’s 1975 song Hurricane, several books and a 1999 film starring Denzel Washington, who received an Academy Award nomination. 

Carter’s murder convictions abruptly ended  his boxing career.  Although never a world champion, Carter has a record of 27-12-1 with 19 knockouts, memorably stopping two-division champion Emile Griffith in the first round in 1963. He also fought for a middleweight title in December 1964, losing a unanimous decision to Joey Giardello.

In June 1966, three white people were shot by two black men at the Lafayette Bar and Grill in Paterson. Carter and Artis were convicted by an all-white jury largely on the testimony of two thieves who later recanted their stories.

Carter was granted a new trial and briefly freed in 1976, but sent back for nine more years after being convicted in a second trial.