by Marc H. Morial, President and CEO
National Urban League
“Starting when I was 15, my life was not my own. For years, I had no control over what happened to me. Being in the spotlight makes me wary and self-conscious again. I am overwhelmed with fear that an overzealous Trump supporter might take matters into his or her own hands. Doing something simple like picking up dinner for the family or going to the aquarium now fills me with dread. I’m constantly looking over my shoulder, keeping an eye out for people who stare too long. Like a soldier always on high alert, I can never enjoy myself fully with all the adrenaline that comes with that. It’s a scary feeling.” — Yusef Salaam
Matias Reyes violently raped a 28-year-old woman who was jogging in Central Park on April 19, 1989. He beat her so badly that she remained in a coma for 12 days.
Reyes confessed to the attack in 2002. DNA evidence confirmed his guilt. The five men wrongly convicted of that brutal attack and another assault the same night were cleared of all wrongdoing.
But Donald Trump, who advocated for their execution before they even had been indicted, can’t stop lying about them.
During the September 10 presidential debate, Trump falsely claimed, “They pled guilty. And I said, well, if they pled guilty, they badly hurt a person, killed a person ultimately.”
Yusef Salaam, Raymond Santana, Kevin Richardson, Antron Brown, and Korey Wise – now known as the Exonerated Five – this week sued Trump for defamation.
“At the September 10, 2024, presidential debate, Defendant Trump falsely stated that Plaintiffs killed an individual and pled guilty to the crime. These statements are demonstrably false. The plaintiffs never pled guilty to any crime and were subsequently cleared of all wrongdoing. Further, the victims of the Central Park assaults were not killed.”
Trump can hardly claim ignorance about the case. In 2013, he attacked the acclaimed documentary The Central Park Five as “a one-sided piece of garbage.” When New York City reached a $41 million settlement with the exonerated men in 2014, Trump penned a guest editorial in the New York Daily News calling the settlement “a disgrace.” A 2019 television miniseries about the case, When They See Us, was streamed by more than 23 million viewers within a month of its release and was one of the most celebrated television dramas of the year.
In the immediate aftermath of the Central Park Attack, Trump spent a reported $85,000 to place a full-page ad in four New York City newspapers on May 1, 1989, calling for a reinstatement of the death penalty and decrying “roving bands of wild criminals” – an unmistakable reference to the teens, who had already been dubbed “The Wolf Pack.” Trump’s ad “contributed to an atmosphere that deprived these men of a fair trial,” according to Barry Scheck, a founder of Innocence Project and one of the lawyers who worked with prosecutors to reinvestigate the case, Scheck.
“He was the firestarter,” Salaam said. He was 15 at the time of his arrest and served seven years in prison.
Salaam, now a New York City Council member, tried to correct Trump’s false statement and seek an apology immediately after the debate. According to the lawsuit, Salaam approached Trump in the post-debate “spin room” and said, “President Trump, I’m Yusef Salaam, one of the Exonerated Five. How are you doing?”
Trump inexplicably responded, “Ah, you’re on my side then.”
Salaam responded, “No, no, no, I’m not on your side.”
Trump waved his hand and walked away.
