After 44 years behind bars, Otis comes out to try and rebuild his life in a world that seems to have changed completely.
When Otis Johnson was 25 years old, he was sentenced for the attempted murder of a police officer.
Forty-four years later, at the age of 69, he was finally released, having served an additional eight months for a juvenile shoplifting charge from when he was 17.
Leaving the prison, Johnson was given an ID, documentation of his criminal history, $40 and two bus tickets.
Johnson had lost contact with his family during his time in prison, so he relied on Fortune Society, a nonprofit that provides housing and services to ex-prisoners in Harlem.
He spends his days navigating the world as best he can, trying to acquaint himself with new concepts, including mobile phones and slick digital advertising.
One of his favourite things after getting out of prison is spending time outdoors, in the sun, something he did not have full access to before.
To help him through the more difficult moments, he turns to meditation in the evenings, seeking to accept his current life.
A film by: Elena Boffetta & Jenna Belhumeur
EP: Yasir Khan
Subscribe to our channel: http://bit.ly/AJSubscribe
Follow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/AJEnglish
Find us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/watch/aljazeera/760570754391359/
Check our website: https://www.aljazeera.com/programmes/aj-close-up/
#AlJazeeraEnglish #CloseUp #Freedom
Thats a good man there…. And he isn’t the only one from the system that was inside & innocent by today’s standards. Just shows what hanging with the wrong crowd can get for you. But from the other episode when he found some friends and distant relatives and they wouldn’t even give him a meal.!? The man did nuttin’!!
I hope he finds peace
That man like time travler
Honestly
You can only feel this MAN only if you have been through the same hole as he did !
My respect for you brother !
Amazing man God Bless Him🙏🏼❤️
1:56 look in the background
Thank me later
They fail to mention here that he was wrongfully accused. Police got a call there was a man in a tan jacket selling drugs, when police arrived, the man shot at them and fled the scene. The police sent out a call with the only description being a man in a tan jacket. Otis just left his mom’s house and was picked up by police for matching the description. So he went to jail for 44 years because he had a tan coat on.
His voice is so soft and peaceful
i don’t like listening people constantly but i’d listen to this man the whole day and i won’t be bored
This is a re-upload of an old video. Could you please do an update?
just look att his painfull eyes 0:05
If this man was in England he would have many homes, he would be welcomed into any muslim household. I feel for this man you can tell this man was innocent of the crime he was incarcerated for. May Allah give him peace Ameen.
The very first clip I saw of this mans story he admitted he was guilty, he may now be taking that back, that’s up to him, but the first clip I watched he said he had been silly and his actions were a result of his mixing with the wrong crowd…..
christopher russell when did he admit to his guilt? He spent 44 years in prison because he didn’t admit it because he’s innocent he would have come out 15 years earlier if he had admitted to being guilty. Please do your research before talking. And you sound like an ignorant racist white person.
Firstly interesting how you can’t state your point without including race, or bringing race or my race into it, why not make the comment without the racial slur, something tells me you’re a racist yourself, because it’s the first thing you seem to want to mention….as for this mans guilt the first video I saw of him and his story was a clip where he admitted he had been silly getting involved with the acts that led up to the attempted murder….there is no point for me to make “things up”, he also admitted he was a follower of the Nation of Islam, an organisation that has been been black listed by many countries as a terrorist threat and movement. He also stated he was a member of the black panthers, and they have many, and I mean many ex members in prison serving life for various serious crimes, he’s served his time for the crime he committed…so instead of using you tunnelled racialise view of the world or that big chip on your shoulder listen read and learn…..this may help you reevaluate your twisted views of the world….I say as someone myself that served a big prison sentence, good luck to him and let him get on with his life.
He attempted murder on a cop dats why he ain’t innocent
Man just prayed to Allah akbar
I can’t imagine what he is going thru but his voice is so smooth hope he learns the system and uploads audio books and gets some payments for living
Respect to you Otis! x
where is ISLAM now
Why this got re-uploaded?
looks like the man whodid the crime died a long time ago
0:28 NDL
MarcKinmond 😂😂 yea old people encounter a wired young man
1960 Skippy is still around
He’s one of a kind , some don’t even make it out alive
44 years for assaulting an officer, i’m amazed at how he is so cool about this and letting it go. I’m so incensed by his story the guy has no family and is having to embrace a foreign world all alone. Sad……so sad
He is sweet
Could somebody explain to me how the american prison system expects people to survive in the real world after serving 40+ years in prison? Its clear that this guy didnt have any information of what was going on in the real world.
let this man be free
If someone like this guy tried to kill someone should he really be forgiven
why
Scholahopp Schneider what do u mean why
@The only One Why should someone forgive anyone for killing someone innocent?
Scholahopp Schneider oh ya that what I meant I just didn’t release what you were saying
I wish you all the luck! Be strong!
His only out promotion for Ip phones 🐷🐖💯
attempted murder or assault on a police officer gave him 40 years ? I think that sentencing is too harsh
any usa muslim pls help him
Thank u for being u..May the rest of your days be full of joy and love:)
Your Bright Smile… Wow… Alhamdulillah.
Thats Crazy. 44 years.
Here no one sits for that long. Even people who kill multiple people will be out within 20 years (Sweden)
44 yrs in prison for attempted murder. Some people who have actually committed murder dont even get 10 yrs.
Otis In the 60s: “Maybe in 50 years there will be flying cars everywhere” 50 years later “People walk without seeing and talking to themselves” 😂
Can you imagine if anyone is released from prison after 50 years and no one is helping him. how confused he is seeing the world today
best of luck praying 4 u
I can’t imagine being my whole life in prison.. i would commit suicide, like what’s the point of living, when you lost 44 years? btw 69 nice numbah
3:05 song?
He should meet that officer if he is Alive, and finish the Job.
Did anyone else notice that he has the hints of a Danzel Washington swag walk
those rotten sons of guns(literally)..they tagged on another 8 frigging months after he did all that time. for something that happened 40plus years ago?
This is so sad. 44 years…
He need to tell somebody to help him look up his family
Ellen should get this man on show
Typical Muslim appeasing propaganda video by yours truly Al Jazeera.
Prison is a time machine. ……
Wish they make a movie about him.
Forty years ago, an anonymous caller alerted the NYPD to a suspicious man in a tan jacket selling drugs on the street. When the police arrived, the alleged drug dealer shot one of the officers and fled the scene. Hours later, a martial arts teacher, Otis Johnson, who was also wearing a tan jacket and training in a nearby park, was arrested and convicted of the attempted murder of a police officer.
Otis spent 40 years behind bars but has always maintained that his arrest was the result of misidentification. At the age of 69, Otis finally walked out of prison to face a very different world from the one he remembered. The first episode of our new Imprisoned series, about ex-cons who say they served time for crimes they didn’t commit, tells his story.
he didnt do it. thats awfull
40 years for attempted murder wtf
To put this into perspective, this man was imprisoned before Michael Jackson made Thriller OR Off The Wall, and he came out 10 years AFTER Michael Jackson died. We need judicial and prison reform.
0:28 IVE SEEN THAT GUY IN NYC
I’ve seen him in someone’s video
Omg he is my life guide good luck for him ❤️
Allah is Satan and Muhammad is a false prophet. Islam is a death cult.
JUST BECAUSE IT WAS A POLICE OFFICER,PROBABLY WHITE,,,,HE LOST HALF OF HIS LIFE FOR SOMETHING HE ATTEMPTED,,I WONDER HOW THAT POLICE OFFICER IS DOING BET HE HAS A FINE LIFE,,,BLACK MEN IN THIS SOCIETY,,SO SAD FOR THEM,,,
44yr🤗🤔😲😎
I like how he was meditating out in the middle like he had no fear of being exposed out in the open in the city like that at night time.. being in prison has made him really thick skinned and nothing to fear in a big city like that walking at night somebody tried to mug him he would have them on the ground in no time
Song 2:03 ?
Learn the difference between whites and Jews, you’ll understand America a lot better.
That was some wise words at then end
this is a lesson to everybody to take : – dont go to jail and dont look at your mobile when walking because you’ll end up with no appreciation of life and you walk into a streetlight 🙂
it really got me when he said ” I love children” but I realized he was never able to have any of his own because of prison
I would love to sit and have a quiet conversation with him…
ironically it reminds me one…”brook was here”!!
Yes i’m in the windows man
The man made my cry mash allah he’s amazing
May he be happy and healthy And live long happily and successfully!
Aameen!
We stand for every oppressed person either black or white, Muslim or non-Muslim and we stand against every oppressor either Muslim or non-Muslim.
That’s what Islam teaches us!
This is good
Wich music is that on 2:10?
May Allah give him happiness…this really touched me😭
its like scene from first avenger captain america
Wow …
Shine your light on him Allah the merciful
That way his voice breaks right at the end.
I saw the first part of this and wanted to know more about Otis
May Hashem give him happiness and make him have less pain and be able to adjust to society. Amen.
Should’ve mentioned he was also framed, never did the crime.
To keep in mind that he was wrongfully arrested and imprisoned for a crime he did not commit.
I am willing to help out my brother. Love is still amazing. Contact me
I wonder if he still alive with all the deth going on in NY
imagine that
44 years for Assault, it’s too harsh.
State must pay you at least 85 million dollars for wrong charge
This makes me sad. Did he find his twin nieces?? Damn…i cant even imagine. How a big chunk of life, love, smiles, happiness, passion and hope can get wiped out due to pridon. Reminds me of shawshank redemption.
He is a good man..i can say.
Every young African American male is accused of trying to harm a police officer…. Ain’t no justice in this world 😭😭😭😭
0:26 the man out from prison and look this man like, nah im going back to jail..
Shame on cousin for not allowing Otis to stay for few days.
44 years of imprisonment is too much for an attempted murder…even though he had committed a serious crime of attempting to take someone else’s life..bt that man is still breathing and living his life…bt is this man Otis alive?I don’t think so…he loved kids,bt he couldn’t hv one..he too might have wanted to be something in his life…bt dat 44 yrs of imprisonment took every chance he cud hv got during that period..dats not proper Justice…even 10 yrs was enough..bt 44 yrs…cruelty
What’s the music at 6:00
2:11 song?
Man he looks calm but I can’t imagine what he went through and what kind of nightmares he have at night… may Allah give him a good life
Now this man is probably in iso no
It’s like he took a time machine from the 70s
This man is like a time capsule.
0:47 bro that guy top right looks like snoop dog
If he likes Skippy … He would love Adams wayy more.
Wonder what happened to the people in the prison photos,the other crimms
Stolen video.
And Safe you Move. 😍
This man litteraly hot the same sentence as 6ix9ine
It must have been so scary for him to come out knowing there will be no family are friend waiting for him.
I would definitely be!
Rip that toys r us all those memories
Does he have a go fund me I want to donate some money??