A man who was wrongfully imprisoned for 35 years has been invited to ring the Liberty Bell in Philadelphia for Martin Luther King Jr. Day.
Jamie Bain, freed last month after DNA evidence exonerated him of a 1974 rape case, will also be the guest of honor at a luncheon after the ceremony at the Liberty Bell Center in downtown Philadelphia.
"Dr. King is one of my heroes," Bain, 54, said in a prepared statement. "I am humbled to ring the Liberty Bell in his honor and share my story with the people of Philadelphia."
Bain will also receive an award from the Philadelphia Martin Luther King Jr. Association, according to a news release from The Innocence Project of Florida.
"It's fitting that he has been chosen to ring the Liberty Bell," said Seth Miller, executive director of the Innocence Project of Florida. "For 35 years of wrongful incarceration, Jamie exhibited the strength and perseverance that is the embodiment of the struggle for liberty which was central to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s mission."
The Tallahassee-based nonprofit organization took up Bain's case by filing appeals for DNA testing. Results showed Bain's DNA did not match any samples of the 9-year-old rape victim's underwear. Bain, who lives in Tampa, was freed Dec. 17.
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