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"Thirty-five years ago, my friends and I were imprisoned for a crime we did not commit," Korey Wise said on Thursday. "Our youth was taken from us. Every day in court, people yelled and threatened us because of Donald Trump."
The Central Park Five, a group of five Black and Latino teenagers wrongfully convicted in 1989, were the focus of Trump's public antagonism. The teens had been coerced into false confessions under extreme duress, with their statements later recanted. Despite the lack of evidence and their eventual exoneration, Trump continued to publicly call for their execution through full-page newspaper ads.
During their trial, Trump—then a prominent New York real estate figure—published ads demanding the reinstatement of the death penalty. "I want to hate these muggers and murderers," he stated, adding that they should suffer and be executed to serve as a deterrent to others.
It wasn't until 2002, when DNA evidence identified a different man as the true perpetrator, that the charges against the Central Park Five were dropped. The group, now known as the Exonerated Five, reached a $41 million settlement with New York City in 2014. Yusef Salaam, now a New York City Council member, and his fellow exonerees—Korey Wise, Raymond Santana, and Kevin Richardson—addressed the Democratic National Convention on Thursday.
Salaam criticized Trump for his refusal to acknowledge the wrongful conviction and ongoing denial of their exoneration. "He wanted us dead," Salaam said, referring to Trump without naming him directly. "Today we are exonerated because the real perpetrator confessed and DNA proved it. He still stands by the original guilty verdict and dismisses the evidence. He has never changed and never will."
Salaam had previously voiced his concerns about Trump during the 2016 campaign, noting how Trump's continued antagonism and refusal to apologize reflected deep-seated biases. On Thursday, Salaam urged the audience to support Vice President Kamala Harris and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz in the upcoming election, emphasizing the importance of voting as a fundamental right.
"Trump thinks hate is the driving force in America. It is not," Salaam said. "We have the constitutional right to vote. So let us use it and, together on November 5, bring Kamala Harris and Tim Walz into the White House."