{"slug":"central-park-five-injustice","title":"The Central Park Five: Trump's Decades-Long Targeting of Wrongfully Convicted Black and Brown Teenagers","date":"1989-05-01","lastUpdated":"2019-06-18","description":"In 1989, Trump spent $85,000 on full-page newspaper ads calling for the reinstatement of the death penalty for five Black and Latino teenagers accused of attacking a jogger in Central Park. The five were exonerated by DNA evidence in 2002. Trump continued to assert their guilt for decades afterward, including as president.","summary":"Following the 1989 Central Park jogger case, Trump took out full-page ads in four New York newspapers calling for the death penalty for five teenagers — Antron McCray, Kevin Richardson, Yusef Salaam, Raymond Santana, and Korey Wise — then aged 14-16. All five were convicted after making coerced false confessions. In 2002, the actual perpetrator confessed and DNA confirmed the exonerations. Trump refused to accept the exonerations for decades and called their civil settlement a 'disgrace' while running for president.","category":"civil-rights","severity":"major","ongoing":false,"sources":[{"url":"https://www.nytimes.com/2002/12/05/nyregion/exonerated-but-not-fully-free-central-park-5-find-some-wait-is-not-yet-over.html","title":"Exonerated but Not Fully Free: Central Park 5 Find Some Wait Is Not Yet Over","publisher":"The New York Times"},{"url":"https://www.cnn.com/2019/06/18/politics/donald-trump-central-park-five/index.html","title":"Trump refuses to apologize to the exonerated Central Park Five","publisher":"CNN"},{"url":"https://www.nytimes.com/1989/05/01/nyregion/anger-over-attack-brings-calls-for-return-of-the-death-penalty.html","title":"Anger Over Attack Brings Calls for Return of the Death Penalty","publisher":"The New York Times"},{"url":"https://www.aclu.org/issues/racial-justice/race-and-criminal-justice/central-park-five","title":"Central Park Five Case","publisher":"ACLU"},{"url":"https://www.nytimes.com/2014/06/21/nyregion/in-settlement-new-york-agrees-to-pay-41-million-in-central-park-jogger-case.html","title":"New York City to Pay $41 Million to 5 Men Wrongfully Convicted in Central Park Jogger Case","publisher":"The New York Times"}],"draft":false,"status":"published","tags":["Central-Park-Five","wrongful-conviction","racial-justice","pre-presidency","exoneration","incitement"],"relatedEntries":[],"timeline":[{"date":"1989-04-19","title":"Central Park jogger case","summary":"A woman is brutally attacked and raped in Central Park. Five teenagers — Antron McCray (15), Kevin Richardson (14), Yusef Salaam (15), Raymond Santana (14), and Korey Wise (16) — are arrested and questioned without parents present. After hours of interrogation, they make false confessions that they later recant."},{"date":"1989-05-01","title":"Trump's death penalty ads","summary":"Trump pays $85,000 to publish full-page ads in the New York Daily News, New York Post, New York Times, and New York Newsday calling for the reinstatement of the death penalty: 'BRING BACK THE DEATH PENALTY. BRING BACK OUR POLICE.' The teenagers have not yet been tried."},{"date":"1990-01-01","title":"Convictions","summary":"All five teenagers are convicted of rape, robbery, assault, and related charges. The DNA found at the scene matches none of them. They serve sentences ranging from 5 to 12 years."},{"date":"2002-12-01","title":"Actual perpetrator confesses; DNA confirms exoneration","summary":"While incarcerated for other crimes, serial rapist Matias Reyes confesses to the attack alone. DNA testing confirms his account. The convictions of all five are vacated."},{"date":"2014-06-18","title":"New York City settles for $41 million","summary":"After years of litigation, New York City agrees to pay $41 million to the five exonerated men in recognition of their wrongful convictions."},{"date":"2016-10-07","title":"Trump calls settlement 'a disgrace' during presidential campaign","summary":"When asked about the case during his presidential campaign, Trump says the settlement was 'a disgrace' and refuses to acknowledge the men's exoneration, claiming 'the police were right.'"},{"date":"2019-06-18","title":"President Trump again refuses to apologize","summary":"Amid renewed attention to the case following the Netflix documentary 'When They See Us,' a White House reporter asks Trump if he owes the five men an apology. Trump says 'you have people on both sides of that' and walks away."}],"location":{"name":"New York, NY","lat":40.7851,"lng":-73.9573},"custom":{"era":"pre-presidency","posture":"judicial-finding","warCrimeClassification":"potential","internationalLaw":[{"statute":"International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights","article":"Article 14","provision":"Right to a fair trial; presumption of innocence — public campaigns to execute named individuals before trial violate the presumption of innocence and fair trial rights"},{"statute":"International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights","article":"Article 26","provision":"Equality before the law; prohibition on racial discrimination — pattern of targeting Black and Latino youth for calls to execute them"}],"iccRelevance":false,"victims":"Antron McCray, Kevin Richardson, Yusef Salaam, Raymond Santana, Korey Wise — wrongfully convicted; collectively served 41 years in prison and juvenile detention","perpetrators":"Donald Trump (public incitement campaign; continued denial of exoneration for decades)","structuredVictims":[{"name":"Antron McCray","group":"Central Park Five / Exonerated Five","status":"Wrongfully convicted; served approximately 6 years"},{"name":"Kevin Richardson","group":"Central Park Five / Exonerated Five","status":"Wrongfully convicted; served approximately 6 years"},{"name":"Yusef Salaam","group":"Central Park Five / Exonerated Five","status":"Wrongfully convicted; served approximately 6 years"},{"name":"Raymond Santana","group":"Central Park Five / Exonerated Five","status":"Wrongfully convicted; served approximately 5 years"},{"name":"Korey Wise","group":"Central Park Five / Exonerated Five","status":"Wrongfully convicted; served 12 years as an adult due to being 16 at time of arrest"}],"structuredPerpetrators":[{"name":"Donald Trump","role":"New York real estate developer","institution":"Trump Organization"}],"updateLog":[{"date":"2019-06-18","summary":"Updated with Trump's refusal to apologize as president following documentary release."}]}}