This composite photo shows, clockwise from top left, Raymond Santana, Yusef Salaam, Antron McCray, Korey Wise and Kevin Richardson, known as the Central Park Five.
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Former President Donald Trump again defended his actions in New York in the late 80s surrounding the case of the Central Park Five (also called the Exonerated Five) during Tuesday night’s presidential debate.
After the brutal 1989 attack on a New York jogger in Central Park, Trump famously took out a full-page ad in the city’s main newspaper calling for the return of the death penalty for those responsible – further inciting racial tension in the city.
Five black and Hispanic teenagers were convicted and imprisoned for years before being exonerated by DNA and confessing to being a convicted rapist and murderer.
But on Tuesday night, Trump said that at the time the five Black and Latino teenagers were accused of wrongdoing because of their actions they had to “hurt people, kill people, eventually.” The victim in that case is still alive but dealing with the health effects of the attack.
This is not the first time in recent years that Trump has wrongly claimed that the men were responsible for the attack.
Read on to learn more about the case that made headlines.
What happened in April 1989?
In 1989, 28-year-old investment banker Trisha Meili was out jogging in Central Park when she was brutally beaten and raped. After the brutal attack, Meili was in a coma for almost two weeks and has no memory of the attack.
New York City at the time was dealing with a high violent crime rate and the media covered the case extensively. On the same night, Meili was attacked, witnesses told the media and the police that a group of teenage boys attacked passers-by and other joggers, robbed and beat them.
The police brought in a group of Black and Hispanic teenagers – Antron McCray, Kevin Richardson, Raymond Santana, Korey Wise and Yusef Salaam – and gave them intense questions.
“The men were christened the ‘Wolf Pack,’ and quickly became a symbol of the criminal menace that white New Yorkers felt had taken over their city,” Poynter said of the media at the time.
Trump jumped on the media circus today and bought a full-page ad in it New York Times and other major city newspapers.
What happens after the arrest?
McCray, Richardson, Santana, Wise and Salaam broke down after an hour of questioning, admitted on videotape – the statements of the boys finally recanted, saying they were coerced.
“When we were arrested, the police prevented us from eating, drinking or sleeping for more than 24 hours,” Salaam wrote Washington Post in 2016. “Under pressure, we admit it’s wrong.”
The five pleaded not guilty but were jailed and imprisoned for years.
Salaam wrote in the 2016 article, “Even if we were innocent, we spent our formative years in prison, labeled as rapists.”
This case is often used by juvenile justice experts as an example of the vulnerability of children and youth in relation to the criminal justice system. The brain is not fully developed and research shows that juveniles are more likely to confess to crimes they did not commit than adults.
This case has also been repeatedly used as evidence of the criminal justice system prejudiced against individuals of color.
It wasn’t until 2002 that the five were released after being convicted, rapist and murderer Matias Reyes confessed to the crime. Reye’s DNA matched the sample found on Meili.
After the convictions were vacated, the five received several million dollars in cash from New York City.
The Central Park Five joined Reverend Al Sharpton during last month’s Democratic National Convention in Chicago.
Charles Rex Arbogast/AP
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Time and time again, Trump has stood by the false belief that the people were wrong
Trump has never apologized for taking out the full-page ad (which did not explicitly name the five men) and decades later continues to repeat his claim that he was responsible for the attack.
Salaam wrote in the article that when Trump was asked about the case during the 2016 presidential race, he said, “He admitted he was wrong.” And in a statement to CNN when Trump also said, “The police did an original investigation. The fact is that the case was solved with a lot of evidence.
Salaam said Trump’s claims caused damage, and caused fear and stress.
“In some ways, I feel like trying again. I know what it’s like to be a young black man without a voice – like Trayvon Martin and Mike Brown, who were killed and then crucified in the press. Even if the Central Park Five were found not guilty by the court, we are still guilty in the eyes of many,” Salaam wrote. “That brings a certain stress.”
Three years later, in 2019, Trump said again, “You have people on both sides. They admit their guilt,” in New York Times reported. “If you look at some of the prosecutors, they think that the city is never going to solve the case — so we’re going to leave it.”
Trump mistakenly said, when asked during the debate, that the Central Park Five were supposed to “hurt people, kill people, eventually.”
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Salaam, who along with three other members of the Exonerated Five spoke at the Democratic National Convention and is now a New York City councilman, was in the spin room after the debate, where he confronted Trump. The former president did not know who Salaam was when asked by reporters if he would apologise.
At Independent reported in the incident, said Trump, “grinned and pointed at (Salaam), quipping: ‘That’s good, you’re on my side!'”
According to the outlet, Salaam appeared shocked — he was in the room supporting Vice President Kamala Harris — saying, “‘No, no, I’m not on your side!'” before Trump walked off.
