Reading mode Exit reading mode

Central Park Five: Full-Page Death Penalty Ads, Refusal to Acknowledge Exoneration

The 1989 Central Park jogger case involved the assault and rape of Trisha Meili. Police coerced confessions from five teenagers — Antron McCray, Kevin Richardson, Yusef Salaam, Raymond Santana, and Korey Wise — who ranged in age from 14 to 16. All five served sentences after conviction. In 2002, convicted serial rapist Matias Reyes confessed to the attack alone; DNA evidence confirmed only his DNA. The convictions were vacated. In 2014, New York City settled their lawsuit for $41 million. Trump ran full-page ads in four newspapers in 1989 calling for the death penalty; in 2019, he told reporters 'You have people on both sides of that' and that the settlement 'doesn't mean they were innocent.'

Record summary

Grade

Grade 2 of 5: Major Abuse of Power

Executive actions that exceed constitutional authority, circumvent statutory constraints, or weaponize government institutions for political ends. Scale and definitions

Status
Concluded
Incident date
Record updated
Location
New York, NY
Category
Civil Rights
Legal posture
Reported
War-crime classification
Enabling conduct
Verification
Independently verified
ICC relevance
No
Sources
4 cited
Stable ID
trump-central-park-five-death-penalty-ads
Victims
Antron McCray, Kevin Richardson, Yusef Salaam, Raymond Santana, and Korey Wise — collectively known as the Central Park Five, who served 6–13 years for a crime they did not commit and who faced ongoing public defamation after their exoneration
Alleged responsible parties
  • Donald Trump, Purchased full-page newspaper ads calling for death penalty for teenagers later exonerated; continued to insist on their guilt after DNA exoneration, conviction reversal, and $41 million settlement— Private citizen / Trump Organization

Key points

  • In May 1989, Trump paid $85,000 to run full-page advertisements in four New York newspapers — the New York Times, New York Post, New York Daily News, and New York Newsday — under the headline 'Bring Back the Death Penalty. Bring Back Our Police.' The ads specifically targeted the Central Park case
  • The five teenagers — Antron McCray (15), Kevin Richardson (14), Raymond Santana (14), Yusef Salaam (15), and Korey Wise (16) — gave confessions after lengthy interrogations without attorneys present; the confessions were later found by the court to have been coerced; all five were convicted and served sentences ranging from 6 to 13 years
  • In 2002, Matias Reyes, a convicted serial rapist serving life in prison, confessed to the attack. DNA testing confirmed only his DNA was present. The five men's convictions were vacated by the Manhattan District Attorney's office
  • In 2014, New York City settled a civil rights lawsuit filed by the five men for $41 million — one of the largest wrongful conviction settlements in U.S. history
  • In 2019, when asked whether he still believed the five men were guilty despite their exoneration and the $41 million settlement, Trump said: 'You have people on both sides of that... They admitted their guilt.' The confessions had been vacated as coerced 17 years earlier
  • The case was dramatized in Ava DuVernay's 2019 Netflix miniseries 'When They See Us,' which renewed public attention to Trump's original ads and his continued claims of guilt after exoneration

Overview

In 1989, Donald Trump paid $85,000 for full-page ads in four New York City newspapers calling for the reinstatement of the death penalty in response to the Central Park jogger assault. The five teenagers he was targeting — ages 14 to 16 — were convicted on coerced confessions. They served sentences of 6 to 13 years.

In 2002, DNA evidence and a confession from the actual perpetrator exonerated them. In 2014, New York City paid $41 million to settle their civil rights lawsuit.

In 2019, Trump continued to insist they were guilty.

The Ads

The full-page ads ran in the New York Times, New York Post, New York Daily News, and New York Newsday. Trump paid for them personally. The headline was "BRING BACK THE DEATH PENALTY. BRING BACK OUR POLICE." The ads called for restoring the death penalty and described "roving bands of wild criminals" preying on the city.

The teenagers Trump was calling to execute ranged from 14 to 16 years old and had not yet been convicted.

The Exoneration

The confessions that convicted the Central Park Five were obtained during interrogations lasting between 14 and 30 hours, without attorneys present. Each teenager gave a video confession. All five maintained they were innocent throughout their imprisonment.

In 2002, Matias Reyes — serving life for a series of rapes including one committed the week after the Central Park attack — confessed to the jogger assault. His DNA matched the evidence. The five men's DNA did not.

The Refusal

After the exoneration, after the conviction reversal, after the $41 million settlement, Trump still would not acknowledge what the DNA evidence had established. In 2019, he told reporters: "They admitted their guilt." The confessions had been vacated as coerced 17 years earlier. "A settlement doesn't mean they were innocent."

The settlement was $41 million for years of wrongful imprisonment.

Update log

  1. Updated with 2019 statements after Netflix series release.

Sequence of events

  1. Central Park jogger attack

    Trisha Meili is attacked and raped while jogging in Central Park. Police arrest five teenagers over the following days. All five are interrogated for hours without attorneys.

  2. Trump runs full-page death penalty ads in four newspapers

    Trump pays $85,000 for full-page ads in four New York newspapers calling for the reinstatement of the death penalty, citing the Central Park case. The headline reads: 'Bring Back the Death Penalty. Bring Back Our Police.'

  3. Central Park Five convicted

    All five teenagers are convicted. They serve sentences ranging from 6 years (McCray, Richardson, Santana, Salaam) to 13 years (Wise). All maintain innocence.

  4. Matias Reyes confesses; DNA confirms sole attacker

    Convicted serial rapist Matias Reyes confesses to the attack. DNA testing confirms only his DNA was present. The Manhattan DA's office moves to vacate all five convictions.

  5. New York City settles for $41 million

    New York City settles the Central Park Five's wrongful conviction lawsuit for $41 million — one of the largest wrongful conviction settlements in U.S. history.

  6. Trump insists on guilt after exoneration

    Trump tells reporters the settlement 'doesn't mean they were innocent' and says 'you have people on both sides' of the question. The convictions were vacated 17 years earlier based on DNA evidence.

Sources

  1. Trump Still Believes Central Park Five Are Guilty, Spokeswoman Says — The New York Times
  2. Trump on the Central Park Five — The Washington Post
  3. The Central Park Five and Trump's 1989 Death Penalty Campaign — The Associated Press
  4. Jogger Case Suspect Now Admits Guilt — The New York Times

How this record was published

Manually curated This entry was added directly and does not carry an automated audit trail.

About our editorial methodology →

Related records

Similar by category, grade and tags.

  • Grade 2 of 5: Major Abuse of Power

    Central Park Five: Full-Page Ads Calling for Death Penalty, Refused to Apologize After Exoneration

    The five teenagers — Yusef Salaam, Kevin Richardson, Antron McCray, Raymond Santana, and Korey Wise — were 14 to 16 years old at the time of their arrest. They gave confessions that were later found to have been coerced during lengthy interrogations without parents present. In 2002, Matias Reyes confessed to the attack; DNA evidence confirmed his account and proved the five had not committed the rape. The city of New York settled with them for $41 million in 2014. Trump called the settlement a disgrace and continued to maintain the five were guilty. His 1989 ads ran in the New York Times, Daily News, New York Post, and New York Newsday.

  • Grade 2 of 5: Major Abuse of Power

    Birtherism: Five-Year Campaign Claiming Obama Was Not Born in the United States

    Trump began promoting birtherism on television in 2011, claiming Obama was 'born in Kenya' and demanding proof of U.S. birth. When Obama released his birth certificate in April 2011, Trump claimed credit. He continued to make or amplify birther claims through 2012, 2013, 2014, and as late as August 2016. The birther movement was not factually novel — it was a conspiracy theory that had circulated in fringe circles — but Trump elevated it to mainstream political discourse. Scholars and civil rights groups documented that the theory's premise was inseparable from the claim that a Black man with the name Barack Hussein Obama could not legitimately be an American president.

  • Grade 2 of 5: Major Abuse of Power

    Birther Campaign: Five-Year Campaign Questioning Obama's U.S. Birth, Racist Delegitimization

    The birther conspiracy theory — the claim that Obama was born in Kenya or elsewhere outside the U.S. — had no factual basis. Hawaii state officials repeatedly confirmed the birth certificate's authenticity. Obama released both a short-form and long-form birth certificate. Federal courts dismissed challenges to Obama's eligibility. The theory persisted in certain quarters as a form of racial delegitimization of the first Black president. Trump became its most prominent mainstream advocate, using it to build his political profile before his 2016 presidential campaign. Trump's 2016 acknowledgment that Obama was born in the U.S. came without apology and included the false claim that Clinton had started the birther controversy.

  • Grade 2 of 5: Major Abuse of Power

    The Birther Campaign: Trump's Racist Attack on Obama's Legitimacy

    Trump spent five years as the most high-profile national birther — making repeated media appearances questioning Obama's birth certificate, demanding documents, and insisting Hawaii was hiding something. Obama released his long-form birth certificate in April 2011 specifically in response to Trump's media campaign. Trump continued the campaign for years afterward. In September 2016, he held a press conference in which he acknowledged Obama was born in the United States — and falsely blamed Hillary Clinton for starting the theory.