In 1989 five teenagers – four black and one Hispanic – were arrested for the brutal rape and assault of Trisha Meili, a white woman attacked while jogging in Central Park. Less than two weeks later, Donald Trump took out full-page advertisements in all four of the city’s newspapers calling for a return of the death penalty. In an interview later that year, he told CNN’s 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.”
The boys, aged between 14 and 16, confessed but later claimed they had been intimidated and coerced. They were, between them, convicted of rape, assault, robbery, riot, attempted murder, sexual abuse involving Meili and other cases, and jailed. In 2001, their convictions were overturned after a convicted serial rapist and murderer confessed to the rape. His story was corroborated by DNA evidence that identified him “to a factor of one in 6,000,000,000 people”.
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