“He Wanted Us Dead”: Members Of ‘The Exonerated Five’ Speak Out Against Trump During Democratic National Convention Appearance – Essence

Members of the “Central Park Five,” now known as the “Exonerated Five,” addressed the Democratic National Convention on Thursday in support of Vice President Kamala Harris’ presidential bid.

Yosef Salaam, Korey Wise, Raymond Santana, Kevin Richardson, and Antron McCray were wrongly convicted of rape and assault as teenagers in 1989. The case became a flashpoint in the racially charged atmosphere of New York City at the time, inflamed in no small part by Donald Trump, who took out full-page ads in several newspapers, including the NY Times, calling for the reinstatement of the death penalty against the boys who were ages 14 to 16 at the time. It was a move that all but sealed their fate in the court of public opinion.

“Thirty-five years ago, my friends and I were in prison for a crime we did not commit. Our youth was stolen from us,” said Wise on the stage. “Every day as we walked into courtrooms, people screamed at us, threatened us, because of Donald Trump.”

“Vice President Harris has also worked to make things fairer. I know she will do the same as president,” Wise added. Years later, their convictions were overturned after another man confessed to the crime, and DNA evidence confirmed his guilt. However, Trump has never apologized for his actions.

Salaam, now a New York City councilman, said, “45 wanted us unalive. He wanted us dead,” he said. “He dismisses the scientific evidence rather than admit he was wrong. He has never changed. And he never will.”

Salaam invoked the words of Martin Luther King Jr., the same words he uttered upon his release after seven years in prison: “Free at last, free at last. Thank God almighty, we are free at last.” He expressed hope that these words might be echoed by millions of Americans if Kamala Harris defeats Trump in the upcoming election.

The Rev. Al Sharpton, founder of the National Action Network and a longtime civil rights leader, introduced the men with a personal reflection on his decades-long acquaintance with Trump. Sharpton, who has sparred with Trump over the years, offered a damning critique of the former president’s character and motivations.

“Only once in that time did he take a position on racial issues,” Sharpton said, referring to Trump’s infamous ads. “He spent a small fortune on full-page ads calling for the execution of five innocent young teenagers.”

Sharpton’s indictment of Trump didn’t stop there. He highlighted Trump’s consistent pattern of self-enrichment and divisive rhetoric, referencing his refusal to apologize for claiming that migrants are taking “Black jobs” during a recent debate. “Well, in November, we’re gonna show him when Blacks do their job. And we are gonna join with whites and browns and Asians and we are gonna do a job on those who have done a job on us.”

As Sharpton turned his attention to Kamala Harris, he evoked the legacy of Shirley Chisholm, the first Black woman elected to Congress and the first woman to run for the Democratic presidential nomination. “Fifty-two years after she was told to sit down, I know she’s watching us tonight as a Black woman stands up to accept the nomination for president of the United States,” he said, his words a poignant reminder of how far the nation has come—and how far it still has to go.

Sharpton’s message was clear: the fight for justice, equality, and dignity continues, and it is a fight that will not be abandoned. “We have fought too hard for women to be told to get out of the kitchen,” he said. “We are now on our way to the Oval Office. We will not go back.”

His rallying cry extended beyond gender. “We fought hard for our LGBTQ loved ones to get out of the closet, we won’t go back,” he continued. “We fought hard for the right to choose, the right to education. We suffered and died and bled, went to jail, to get the right to vote, we won’t go back.”