INDIANAPOLIS — The Indiana Black Expo announced Wednesday that the eldest of the Exonerated Five, Korey Wise, will be Grand Marshall of the 2019 Circle City Classic Parade.
Saturday, an estimated 100,000 people will fill the downtown streets of Indianapolis to help celebrate the 36th Annual Circle City Classic game. The matchup will feature Jackson State University and Kentucky State University.
Wise, along with four other men, most commonly known as the 'Central Park Five,' was wrongfully accused and imprisoned for the rape and beating of a 28-year-old woman when he was 16-yeas-old.
Despite no DNA matches, the five minors — Wise, Raymond Santana, Antron McCray, Kevin Richardson, and Yusef Salaam — served prison sentences anywhere from six to 13 years for a crime they later were exonerated for.
Wise is now a criminal justice reform advocate, public figure, and speaker who travels around the U.S. advocating for criminal justice reform by sharing his story.
The Exonerated Five's story was recently made into a Netflix Original miniseries titled, 'When They See Us.'
The series won two Emmy Awards after 16 nominations in 2019.
The 2019 Circle City Classic Parade will take place on Saturday at 10:30 a.m., beginning at North and Pennsylvania Streets.
The game is scheduled to start at 3 p.m. at Lucas Oil Stadium.
