Four men of color, who were falsely accused of an attack that occurred in 1989 in New York, appeared on the stage of Democratic National Convention ( DNC ) on Thursday and slammed one of their accusers, former President Donald Trump, who had called for their execution. Four of the former “ Central Park Five ,” Kevin Richardson, Yusef Salaam, Korey Wise, and Raymond Santana, were introduced by Rev. Al Sharpton on the stage.
All you need to know about 'Central Park Five’ and their case The men were accused of viciously sexually abusing a white female jogger in 1989, along with Antron McCray, who was absent during their DNC appearance on Thursday. However, they were found not guilty around ten years later in 2002. The members in the group, also referred to as the “Exonerated Five,” were all teenagers or young adults at the time of their arrest.
In response to the case, Trump notably paid $85,000 for a full-page advertisement in The New York Times that read, “BRING BACK THE DEATH PENALTY, BRING BACK OUR POLICE!” He never expressed regret for spearheading the prosecution of the group after they were found not guilty. Also Read : Beyonce and Taylor Swift set to close out the Democratic National Convention in Chicago? Central Park Five addresses DNC Speaking to the crowd, Salaam, a New York City Council member, stated, “Let me tell you, this is gonna be so beautiful. Together on Nov.
5th, we will usher in Kamala Harris and Tim Walz into the White House.” Blasting Trump, he remarked: “Forty-five wanted us unalive. He wanted us dead.
Today, we are exonerated.” He continued, saying, “Today, we are exonerated because the actual perpetrator confessed, and DNA proved it,” adding that Trump is still standing by the initial decision as he “has never changing his mind”. According to Salaam, Trump “thinks that hate is the animating force in America”.
Later, Wise hit out at Trump for spending thousands for a full-page advertisement in The New York Times advocating for the group's death. Wise remarked, “We were innocent kids.” He went on to laud Kamala Harris , stating that she has worked to make things fairer.
The members of the Central Park Five's appearance at the DNC comes as Trump seeks to win over Black votes ahead of November's election. In 2020, President Biden received 87 percent of Black votes. Harris will probably need to perform at least as well in order to defeat Trump.
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