{"slug":"trump-central-park-five-death-penalty-ads","title":"Central Park Five: Full-Page Death Penalty Ads, Refusal to Acknowledge Exoneration","date":"1989-05-01","lastUpdated":"2019-07-25","description":"In May 1989, Donald Trump paid $85,000 for full-page advertisements in four New York newspapers calling for the reinstatement of the death penalty in response to the assault of a jogger in Central Park. The suspects — five Black and Latino teenagers — were convicted and served sentences of 6–13 years before DNA evidence and a confession from the actual perpetrator exonerated them in 2002. The city of New York settled a wrongful conviction lawsuit for $41 million in 2014. Trump continued to insist the five men were guilty through 2019, after their exoneration, conviction reversal, and civil settlement.","summary":"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.'","category":"civil-rights","severity":"major","ongoing":false,"sources":[{"url":"https://www.nytimes.com/2019/06/18/us/politics/central-park-five-trump.html","title":"Trump Still Believes Central Park Five Are Guilty, Spokeswoman Says","publisher":"The New York Times"},{"url":"https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/trump-on-the-central-park-five/2019/07/25/82bea7ca-ae4b-11e9-8e77-03b30bc29f64_story.html","title":"Trump on the Central Park Five","publisher":"The Washington Post"},{"url":"https://apnews.com/article/central-park-five-trump-death-penalty-ads","title":"The Central Park Five and Trump's 1989 Death Penalty Campaign","publisher":"The Associated Press"},{"url":"https://www.nytimes.com/2002/12/19/nyregion/jogger-case-suspect-now-admits-guilt.html","title":"Jogger Case Suspect Now Admits Guilt","publisher":"The New York Times"}],"draft":false,"status":"published","tags":["Central-Park-Five","wrongful-conviction","death-penalty","racism","pre-presidency","civil-rights","New-York"],"relatedEntries":[],"timeline":[{"date":"1989-04-19","title":"Central Park jogger attack","summary":"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."},{"date":"1989-05-01","title":"Trump runs full-page death penalty ads in four newspapers","summary":"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.'"},{"date":"1990-01-01","title":"Central Park Five convicted","summary":"All five teenagers are convicted. They serve sentences ranging from 6 years (McCray, Richardson, Santana, Salaam) to 13 years (Wise). All maintain innocence."},{"date":"2002-12-01","title":"Matias Reyes confesses; DNA confirms sole attacker","summary":"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."},{"date":"2014-06-19","title":"New York City settles for $41 million","summary":"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."},{"date":"2019-07-25","title":"Trump insists on guilt after exoneration","summary":"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."}],"location":{"name":"New York, NY","lat":40.7128,"lng":-74.006},"custom":{"era":"pre-presidency","posture":"reported","warCrimeClassification":"enabling","internationalLaw":[],"iccRelevance":false,"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","structuredPerpetrators":[{"name":"Donald Trump","role":"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","institution":"Private citizen / Trump Organization"}],"updateLog":[{"date":"2019-07-25","summary":"Updated with 2019 statements after Netflix series release."}]}}