Raymond Santana and Yusef Salaam are closely watching the events in Manhattan as they unfold, including the arraignment of former President Donald Trump on criminal charges.
They are two of the members of the Central Park Five, now the Exonerated Five.
In 1989, Santana and Salaam, who now have connections to Georgia, were two of five Black and Latino teenagers from Harlem who were wrongly convicted of beating and raping a white female jogger.
Trump took out full-page newspaper advertisements in several publications, including the New York Times, calling the New York state to adopt the death penalty for killers and called for more police power. It became clear that it was a reference to the attack on the female jogger, although she survived the attack, according to an article in The New York Times.
And although they were later exonerated after serving various stints in prison, Trump still refuses to apologize to them.
“It’s karma,” said Santana, who lives in North Georgia and was one of two who talked to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “We’re in the day and age that that you can show a tyrant that he can be touched. This karma at its finest. Now 20-30 years later he’s fighting a case. It’s the changing of the guard and we’re getting a front-row seat to watch it unfold.”
Trump pleaded not guilty to 34 counts of falsifying business records during his arraignment in a Manhattan courtroom.
“I’m hoping that the justice system affords Mr. Trump the opportunity to be presumed innocent until proven guilty,” said Yusef Salaam, in a telephone interview Tuesday with The Atlanta Journal Constitution. “Thirty-four years ago they looked at the color of our skin and we were not given that same presumption of innocence. “
The teens, ranging in age from 14 to 16, served between five and 13 years behind bars.
Salaam, 49, who lives in New York but has another home in Georgia, is now running for a Harlem city council seat.
He said the criminal justice system has been more of a criminal system of injustice for many in this nation including the poor and people of color.
He thinks Trump was trying to encourage people “to come into our homes, drag us from our beds and do to use what they did to Emmett Till. I truly believe that.”
Santana, 48, said he has gone on social media to remind people what happened to them. There have been several people who have defended Trump.
“With all this stuff now, it puts us on alert. People know who we are and our history with him. They’re coming for us.”
A Netflix miniseries,“When They See Us” chronicled the case.
About the Author
