Read What Donald Trump Really Said About the Central Park Five

On April 19, 1989, a group of about 30 youths were rioting in Central Park, which included assaulting the homeless and viciously beating a schoolteacher. Most of the group fled, but the police did catch some of the suspects. The kids started talking and pointing fingers, which led to other arrests.

In the midst of the investigation, Trisha Meili, a 28-year-old jogger, was discovered raped and left for dead in a ravine. She was in a coma for 11 days and had no memory of the assault.

Yusef Salaam (15), Raymond Santana (14), Kevin Richardson (14), Antron McCray (15), and Korey Wise (16) were charged for the rape and assault of the jogger, along with other attacks committed that night. They would later become known as the Central Park Five.

The boys confessed but they did not admit to penetrating Meili. The Central Park Five admitted to being present, to touching her, and some even pretended to rape her but did not have an erection. They also described participating in other crimes that night. You can watch their video statements here.

About two weeks later, Donald Trump took out advertisements in four of the city’s newspapers, including the New York Times. This is what he wrote:

BRING BACK THE DEATH PENALTY. BRING BACK OUR POLICE!

What has happened to our City over the past ten years? What has happened to law and order, to the neighborhood cop we all trusted to safeguard our homes and families, the cop who had the power under the law to help us in times of danger, keep us safe from those who would prey on innocent lives to fulfill some distorted inner need. What has happened to the respect for authority, the fear of retribution by the courts, society and the police for those who break the law, who wantonly trespass on the rights of others? What has happened is the complete breakdown of life as we knew it.

Many New York families—White, Black, Hispanic and Asian—have had to give up the pleasure of a leisurely stroll in the Park at dusk, the Saturday visit to the playground with their families, the bike ride at dawn, or just sitting on their stoops—given them up as hostages to a world ruled by the law of the streets, as roving bands of wild criminals roam our neighborhoods, dispensing their own vicious brand of twisted hatred on whomever they encounter. At what point did we cross the line from the fine and noble pursuit of genuine civil liberties to the reckless and dangerously permissive atmosphere which allows criminals of every age to beat and rape a helpless woman and then laugh at her family’s anguish? And why do they laugh? They laugh because they know that soon, very soon, they will be returned to the streets to rape and maim and kill once again—and yet face no great personal risk to themselves.

Mayor Koch has stated that hate and rancor should be removed from our hearts. I do not think so. I want to hate these muggers and murderers. They should be forced to suffer and, when they kill, they should be executed for their crimes. They must serve as examples so that others will think long and hard before committing a crime or an act of violence. Yes, Mayor Koch, I want to hate these murderers and I always will. I am not looking to psychoanalyze or understand them, I am looking to punish them. If the punishment is strong, the attacks on innocent people will stop. I recently watched a newscast trying to explain the “anger in these young men”. I no longer want to understand their anger. I want them to understand our anger. I want them to be afraid.

How can our great society tolerate the continued brutalization of its citizens by crazed misfits? Criminals must be told that their CIVIL LIBERTIES END WHEN AN ATTACK ON OUR SAFETY BEGINS!

When I was young, I sat in a diner with my father and witnessed two young bullies cursing and threatening a very frightened waitress. Two cops rushed in, lifted up the thugs and threw them out the door, warning them never to cause trouble again. I miss the feeling of security New York’s finest once gave to the citizens of this City.

Let our politicians give back our police department’s power to keep us safe. Unshackle them from the constant chant of “police brutality” which every petty criminal hurls immediately at an officer who has just risked his or her life to save another’s. We must cease our continuous pandering to the criminal population of this City. Give New York back to the citizens who have earned the right to be New Yorkers. Send a message loud and clear to those who would murder our citizens and terrorize New York—BRING BACK THE DEATH PENALTY AND BRING BACK OUR POLICE!

Donald J. Trump

The jury was informed that a suspect in the gang rape of Trisha Meili had not been caught. The DNA evidence recovered from Meili’s body (still in its early stages) did not match the Five. The Central Park Five were accused of “acting in concert” and found guilty of the sexual assault based on their testimonies, the testimonies of others, and evidence such as blood, dirt, and semen found on their clothes. They were also found guilty of other brutal attacks that took place that night. The Central Park Five recanted their confessions and the Defense claimed they were coerced by the police, but the courts continuously found the confessions were given voluntarily.

An incarcerated rapist by the name of Matias Reyes confessed in 2002 to raping Meili and claimed to have acted alone. His DNA matched what was found on her body. In light of new evidence, and no point in having a new trial since their sentences were mostly all served, District Attorney Robert Morgenthau withdrew the charges against the Central Park Five.

The Bloomberg administration spent over a decade fighting against the Central Park Five’s lawsuit. In 2014, Mayor Bill de Blasio and New York City reached a $41 million settlement, but the investigators on the original case and Trisha Meili disagreed with the city’s decision. They wanted it to be argued in court. The doctors who treated Meili, Dr. Bob Kurtz and Dr. Jane Haher, said the evidence supported that Meili had multiple attackers.

Donald Trump, who went on to become the 45th President of the United States, never apologized to the Central Park Five and appears to maintain that they were guilty. “But people on both sides of that. They admitted their guilt. If you look at Linda Fairstein, and if you look at some of the prosecutors, they think that the city should have never settled that case, So, we’ll leave it at that.”

A documentary and Netflix mini-series When They See Us have also introduced millions of people to their story, but Detective Eric Reynolds and Prosecutor Linda Fairstein, see them as absurd fiction.

Trump’s advertisement continues to be a line of attack from his Democratic opponents. It’s used in targeted ads in cities like Atlanta, and the Five appeared at the 2024 Democratic National Convention to speak about how Donald Trump played a role in stealing their childhood. Korey Wise said, “Every day, as we walked into the courtroom, people screamed at us and threatened us because of Donald Trump. He spent $85,000 on a full-page ad in the New York Times calling for our execution. We were innocent kids. But, we served a total of 41 years in prison.”

The Central Park Five have done their best to pick up their lives. Yusef Salaam is now a member of the New York City Council. Korey Wise and Kevin Richardson are rights advocates and work with the Innocence Project. Raymond Santana launched a clothing line. Antron McCray now lives down South and is raising his children.

“That man thinks that hate is the animating force in America. It is not,” Salaam said about Donald Trump at the DNC. “We have the constitutional right to vote, in fact, it is a human right. So, let us use it. I want you to walk with us. I want you to march with us. I want you to vote with us.”