Good for Trump
“On May 1, 1989, real estate magnate Donald Trump called for the return of the death penaltywhen he took out full-page advertisements in all four of the city's major newspapers. Trump said he wanted the "criminals of every age" who were accused of beating and raping a jogger in Central Park 12 days earlier "to be afraid". [82]The advertisement, which cost an estimated $85,000, [82] said, in part, "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 ... Yes, Mayor Koch, I want to hate these murderers and I always will. ... 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!" [83] In a 1989 interview with CNN, Trump said to Larry King: "The problem with our society is the victim has absolutely no rights and the criminal has unbelievable rights" and that "maybe hate is what we need if we're gonna get something done." [84]
Lawyers for the five defendants said that Trump's advertisement had inflamed public opinion. After Reyes confessed to the crime and said he acted alone, one of the defendants' lawyers, Michael W. Warren, said, "I think Donald Trump at the very least owes a real apology to this community and to the young men and their families." [82] Protests were held outside Trump Tower in October 2002 with protestors chanting, "Trump is a chump!" [82]Trump was unapologetic at the time, saying, "I don't mind if they picket. I like pickets." [82]
After the city announced in June 2014 that they would settle with the defendants for more than $40 million, Trump wrote an opinion article for the New York Daily News. He called the settlement "a disgrace" and said that the group's guilt was still likely: "Settling doesn't mean innocence. ... Speak to the detectives on the case and try listening to the facts. These young men do not exactly have the pasts of angels." [85]
According to Yusef Salaam, Trump "was the fire starter", as "common citizens were being manipulated and swayed into believing that we were guilty." Salaam and his family received death threats after papers ran Trump's full-page ad. Warren argued that Trump's advertisements played a role in securing conviction, saying that "he poisoned the minds of many people who lived in New York City and who, rightfully, had a natural affinity for the victim," and that "notwithstanding the jurors' assertions that they could be fair and impartial, some of them or their families, who naturally have influence, had to be affected by the inflammatory rhetoric in the ads." The Guardian wrote in 2016 that the case and the media attention reflected the racial dynamics at the time; a similar attack took place soon after in Brooklyn on May 2, 1989, [86] involving a black woman who was raped and thrown from the roof of a four-story building, but received little media attention. [42]Her case was brought to Trump's attention. He visited the victim in the hospital and promised to pay her medical expenses. [87] [88] It is not known whether Trump actually paid anything. [89]
In October 2016, when Trump campaigned to be president, he declared that the Central Park Five were guilty and stated that their convictions should never have been vacated. Trump told CNN: "They admitted they were guilty. The police doing the original investigation say they were guilty. The fact that that case was settled with so much evidence against them is outrageous. And the woman, so badly injured, will never be the same." [90] Ann Coulter presented an argument describing the actions of the attack, Trump's ad, and the nuances of the case within the prism of DNA knowledge of the 1980s. [91] Trump's statement attracted criticism from the Central Park Five themselves [92] as well as others, including Republican U.S. Senator John McCain, who called Trump's responses "outrageous statements about the innocent men in the Central Park Five case" and cited it as one of many causes prompting him to retract his endorsement of Trump. [93] Salaam said that he had falsely confessed out of coercion, after having been mistreated by police while in custody, deprived of food, drink or sleep for over 24 hours. [94] Ken Burns called Trump's comments "the height of vulgarity" and racist. [95]” |
