The Central Park Five
THE PRESS.
DURING TRIAL
● Depicted as “bloodthirsty”, “animals”,
“savages”, “human mutations”, etc.
● From a newspaper The New York
Post‘s “[teens hailed] from a world of
crack, welfare, guns, with no fathers …to
smash, hurt, rob, stomp, rape. The
enemies were rich. The enemies were
White.”
○ They suffered not only physical but also
emotional abuse
Trisha Meili’s body was found in New York City’s Central Park early on the morning on April 20, 1989.
She had been badly beaten and repeatedly raped .
She remained in a coma for nearly two weeks and retained no memory of the attack.
The brutal assault of the 28-year-old White investment banker, who had been out for a jog the night before, led to widespread public outcry and the quick arrest and subsequent conviction of five Black and Latino teens, Antron McCray, 15, Kevin Richardson, 15, Yusef Salaam, 15, Raymond Santana, 14, and Korey Wise, 16, who came to be known as the Central Park Five.
In 2002, after serving sentences that ranged from six to 13 years for what then-New York City Mayor Ed Koch called “The crime of the century,” new DNA evidence and a confession proved convicted rapist Matias Reyes was the true, lone culprit.
The charges against the five young men were vacated
DONALD TRUMP –
“He poisoned the minds of New York”
“Just two weeks after the Central Park attack, before any of the boys had faced trial and while Meili remained critically ill in a coma, Donald Trump, whose office on Fifth Avenue commanded an exquisite view of the park’s opulent southern frontier, intervened.
He paid a reported $85,000 to take out advertising space in four of the city’s newspapers, including the New York Times. Under the headline “Bring Back The Death Penalty. Bring Back Our Police!” and above his signature, Trump wrote: “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.”
The 1989 Advertisements
Trump purchased full-page ads in four major New York newspapers.
continued brutalization of its citizens by
crazed misfits? Criminals must be told that
their CIVIL LIBERTIES END WHEN AN
ATTACK ON OUR SAFETY BEGINS!”
- The Message: He called for the reinstatement of the death penalty.
- The Language: He wrote, “I want to hate these muggers and murderers. They should be forced to suffer”.
- The Impact: The men, then aged 14–16, credit these ads with poisoning the jury pool and inciting public “hysteria” before their trial.
Despite the men’s 2002 exoneration via DNA evidence and a confession from the actual perpetrator (Matias Reyes), Trump has consistently maintained they were guilty.
- 2014: He called the $41 million settlement between the city and the men “the heist of the century”.
- 2016/2019: During his first presidency, he repeatedly stated they had “admitted their guilt”.
- 2024 Debate: In a September debate with Kamala Harris, Trump falsely claimed the group had “pled guilty” and that the victim had died.
In October 2024, the five men filed a federal defamation lawsuit against Trump in Pennsylvania.
- The Claims: The lawsuit alleges Trump cast the men in a “harmful false light” and intentionally inflicted emotional distress.
- 2025 Ruling: In April 2025, a federal judge ruled that the defamation case could proceed, denying Trump’s bid to dismiss it.
- Legal Status: As of April 2026, the case remains ongoing as the plaintiffs seek compensatory and punitive damages.
“During the September debate at the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia, Trump said that at the time the teenagers “admitted – they said, they pled guilty. And I said, well, if they pled guilty they badly hurt a person, killed a person ultimately.” The victim in the case is still alive and deals with lingering health effects from her attack. The five never pled guilty for the crimes they were charged with.
The lawsuit alleges that Trump defamed the men, “cast them in a harmful false light and intentionally inflicted emotional distress on them,” attorney Shanin Specter said in a statement.
“The Plaintiffs seek to correct the record and clear their names once again,” Specter said. The five men are looking for a trial by jury and for Trump to pay an undetermined amount in compensatory damages, punitive damages and other costs, the lawsuit says.
[ An attorney for Trump is not yet listed on the case. ]
Almost a year after the Central Park Five sued Donald Trump for defamation for his slander of the five men, a judge has ruled that Donald Trump must face them in a court of law after unsuccessfully trying to get the lawsuit dismissed.
According to Raw Story, U.S. District Court Judge Wendy Beetlestone declined Trump’s legal team motion to have the case dismissed and stated that the case will proceed as Donald Trump lied during his debate with Kamala Harris and claimed that the men killed someone and pleaded guilty even though they were exonerated of the crime decades later. Trying to clean up the mess he made for himself during the debate, Trump’s lawyers claimed that his lies were protected under the First Amendment’s free speech grounds, but Judge Beetlestone was having none of it and informed them to get ready for what comes next.
Prior to the comments Trump made during the debate last month in Philadelphia, there have been a number of times Trump has falsely claimed that the men were responsible for the attack, according to the lawsuit.
LINDA FAIRSTEEN (Manhattan Prosecutor)
Linda Fairstein, the former head of the Manhattan District Attorney’s sex crimes unit, has faced decades of intense criticism for her role in the 1989 Central Park Five case, in which five Black and Latino teenagers were wrongfully convicted of raping a jogger.
Key Controversies in Her Treatment of the Case
Coerced Confessions: Fairstein oversaw the interrogations that led to the boys’ confessions. Critics and the exonerated men allege she helped orchestrate or supervise the use of intimidation and sleep deprivation to extract false statements.
[ Professional Fallouts: Following the 2019 Netflix series When They See Us, which depicted her as a “villain,” Fairstein was dropped by her publisher and forced to resign from multiple nonprofit boards.
– Defamation Lawsuit: Fairstein sued Netflix and director Ava DuVernay in 2020, claiming the show fabricated scenes and dialogue to make her appear racist and unethical.
– While Fairstein maintains she acted legally, the 2002 DA’s report on the exoneration concluded that the confessions were unreliable and inconsistent with the actual crime facts. ]
Targeting Suspects: She has been accused of focusing on the teenagers despite a lack of physical evidence linking them to the crime scene.
Opposition to Exoneration: Even after DNA evidence and a confession from serial rapist Matias Reyes cleared the men in 2002, Fairstein continued to defend the original investigation.
Refusal to Apologize: She has never apologized for the wrongful convictions, maintaining that the interrogations were “respectful” and that the men were likely involved in other attacks that night.
Was Netflix sued for When They See Us?
Former Manhattan prosecutor Linda Fairstein reaches a settlement with Netflix in defamation case. Fairstein sued the streaming platform for defamation over her portrayal in Ava DuVernay’s “When They See Us” miniseries about the “Central Park Five” case.
New York Times
Linda Fairstein’s. defamation lawsuit against Netflix and director Ava DuVernay.
. The show depicts her as:
- The “mastermind” who pushed for convictions despite inconsistent evidence.
- A figure who orchestrated the interrogation of five Black and Latino teenagers.
- A “racist, unethical villain,” according to her original legal complaint (BBC News).
- Dropped by Publisher: Her long-time publisher, E.P. Dutton, severed ties with her (Wikipedia).
- Board Resignations: She resigned from various boards, including Safe Horizon and her alma mater, Vassar College (The New York Times).
- Awards Rescinded: The Mystery Writers of America rescinded her “Grand Master” award, and Glamour magazine distanced itself from its 1993 “Woman of the Year” honor (Rolling Stone).
⚖️ 2024 Settlement Details
No Money for Fairstein: She received no financial payout from the settlement (NBC News).
Donation to Charity: Netflix agreed to donate $1 million to the Innocence Project, a nonprofit that works to exonerate the wrongfully convicted (Variety).
- New Disclaimer: Netflix added a disclaimer to the beginning of the When They See Us episodes, stating that while the series is based on actual events, some elements are fictionalized for dramatic purposes.
Linda Fairstein, played by Felicity Huffman
Today, Fairstein is a novelist.
Fairstein lives in Manhattan and Martha’s Vineyard and has written a series of books about the protagonist Alexandra Cooper, a fictional Manhattan assistant district attorney.
A week after the series’ premiere, Fairstein’s publisher Dutton announced it had ended its relationship with the novelist, after days of backlash. The hashtag #CancelLindaFairstein began trending early this week, and a change.org petition called for publishers and booksellers to stop the production and sales of Fairstein’s novels. As of this writing, more than 120,000 have signed it. The boycott has the support of at least two of the men she prosecuted, as well.
NO COPYRIGHT INFRINGEMENT INTENDED
© Dale Ricardo Shields 2026
