Central Park Five, Yusef Salaam Speak At DNC—Their History With Donald Trump, Explained
![Central Park Five, Yusef Salaam Speak At DNC—Their History With Donald Trump, Explained Central Park Five, Yusef Salaam Speak At DNC—Their History With Donald Trump, Explained](https://i2.wp.com/imageio.forbes.com/specials-images/imageserve/66c7d283b417efb305c426bb/0x0.jpg?format=jpg&crop=3000,2000,x0,y0,safe&height=900&width=1600&fit=bounds&w=780&resize=780,470&ssl=1)
Topline
Members of the “Central Park Five”—a group of Black and Latino men wrongly convicted of raping and assaulting a white jogger in New York City in 1989—are speaking during the Democratic National Convention’s fourth night, aligning themselves against former President Donald Trump, who took out harsh newspaper ads against the men when their since-overturned convictions dominated headlines in 1989.
Kevin Richardson, Antron Mccray, Raymond Santana Jr., Korey Wise, and Yusef Salaam, collectively … [+]
Key Facts
Four members of the Central Park Five are slated to speak at the DNC—Yusef Salaam, Korey Wise, Raymond Santana and Kevin Richardson—following an introduction by Rev. Al Sharpton, who criticized Trump’s treatment of the five men.
Not long after the attack on the jogger in the late 1980s and before the Central Park Five were on trial, Trump took out full-page ads in multiple New York City newspapers calling for the state of New York to bring back the death penalty and to “BRING BACK OUR POLICE”—$85,000 worth of ads that would become the crux of the friction.
Trump, an influential business mogul in New York City at the time, wrote in the ads “these muggers and murderers…should be forced to suffer and, when they kill, they should be executed for their crimes.”
Trump defended the ads in an interview with CNN, saying he did not believe any part of his messaging was “inciteful” and suggesting hate may be needed to address unchecked crime in the U.S.
Trump maintained the Central Park Five case was a “disgrace” after the group reached a $41 million settlement with New York City in 2014—12 years after they were exonerated.
By 2019, Trump still had not budged on his stance, refusing to apologize for the comments he made about the group in 1989, saying at the White House, “You have people on both sides of that,” according to The New York Times.
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Surprising Fact
One of the Central Park Five, Yusef Salaam, won a seat on the New York City Council last year. Months before his election, when Trump was charged with business fraud in New York, Salaam tweeted a letter formatted similarly to Trump’s 1989 ads last year, calling out Trump for his comments and noting the former president’s arrest. Trump was later convicted on all counts.
Key Background
The Central Park Five said they were coerced into falsely confessing the crimes against the jogger, Trisha Meili. Members of the group served between five and 13 years in prison over their wrongful convictions, which were overturned in 2002 when Matias Reyes, a convicted murderer, confessed to raping the jogger. His confession was confirmed by DNA evidence.
Further Reading
Trump in 1989 Central Park Five interview: ‘Maybe hate is what we need’ (CNN)
Black leaders call out Trump’s criminal justice contradictions as he rails against guilty verdict (Los Angeles Times)
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