The mayor of Boston formally apologized to two Black men who were wrongfully accused of murdering a pregnant white woman and her unborn child in 1989 – a notorious murder case that sowed decades of distrust between the Boston Police Department and the city's Black community.
"I am so sorry for what you endured," Michelle Wu said in an apology addressed to Willie Bennett and Alan Swanson, at a news conference on Wednesday. "I am so sorry for the pain that you have carried for so many years. What was done to you was unjust, unfair, racist and wrong."
In 1989, Swanson and Bennett were named as suspects in the death of Carol Stuart, whose husband, Charles Stuart, plotted her killing and then accused an unidentified Black man for the murder, sparking what the mayor called a "systemic campaign targeting Black men" based on "a false, racist claim."
Michael Cox, the Boston police commissioner, apologized on behalf of the police department for "the poor investigation, overzealous behavior and, more likely, unconstitutional behavior."
Flanking the speakers were Swanson and members of Bennett's family. The mayor handed them formal apology letters and said the gesture was "just the beginning of a much longer journey of accountability and action."
Joey Bennett, Willie Bennett's nephew, accepted Wu's apology on behalf of his uncle, who did not attend the event.
"In accepting this apology I wish to emphasize the importance of strength, resiliency, empathy and growth – it's through these principles that we change the narrative so the world can be informed of what transpired 34 years ago and begin the process of healing from our trauma," he said.
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