(TriceEdneyWire.com)—“From the age of 15, my life was no longer my own. For years I had no control over what was happening to me. Being in the spotlight makes me cautious and insecure again. I'm very afraid that an overzealous Trump supporter could take matters into his own hands. Doing something simple like picking up dinner for the family or going to the aquarium now fills me with anxiety. I'm constantly looking over my shoulder, looking for people who stare for too long. Like a soldier who is always on high alert, I can never really enjoy myself with all the adrenaline that comes with it. It’s a scary feeling.”– Yusef Salaam

Matias Reyes violently raped a 28-year-old woman who was jogging in Central Park on April 19, 1989. He beat her so badly that she was in a coma for twelve days.

Reyes confessed to the attack in 2002. DNA evidence confirmed his guilt. The five men wrongly convicted of that brutal attack and another attack that same night have been cleared of any wrongdoing.

But Donald Trump, who advocated for their execution before they were even charged, can't stop lying about them.

During the presidential debate on September 10, Trump falsely claimed, “They pleaded guilty.” And I said that if they pleaded guilty, they seriously injured and ultimately killed a person.”

Yusef Salaam, Raymond Santana, Kevin Richardson, Antron Brown and Korey Wise — now known as the Exonerated Five — sued Trump for defamation this week.

“At the presidential debate on September 10, 2024, Defendant Trump falsely stated that Plaintiffs had killed a person and pleaded guilty to the crime. These statements are demonstrably false. The plaintiffs never pleaded guilty to a crime and were subsequently cleared of any wrongdoing. Furthermore, the victims of the Central Park attacks were not killed.”

Trump can hardly claim that he knows nothing about the case. In 2013, he attacked the acclaimed documentary The Central Park Five as a “one-sided piece of garbage.” When New York City reached a $41 million settlement with the exonerated men in 2014, Trump wrote an op-ed in the New York Daily News calling the settlement “a disgrace.” A 2019 television miniseries about the case, “When They See Us,” was streamed by more than 23 million viewers within a month of its release and was one of the most acclaimed television dramas of the year.

Immediately after the Central Park attack, Trump reportedly spent $85,000 to take out a full-page ad in four New York newspapers on May 1, 1989, calling for the death penalty to be reinstated and denouncing “roving gangs of savage criminals.” – an unmistakable reference to the teenagers already dubbed “The Wolf Pack.” Barry Scheck, a founder of the Innocence Project and one of the lawyers who worked with prosecutors to re-investigate the Scheck case, said Trump's ad “contributed to an atmosphere that deprived these men of a fair trial.”

“He was the arsonist,” Salaam said. He was 15 years old at the time of his arrest and served seven years in prison.

Salaam, now a member of the New York City Council, tried to correct Trump's false statement and obtain an apology immediately after the debate. According to the lawsuit, Salaam turned to Trump in the “Spin Room” after the debate and said, “President Trump, I am Yusef Salaam, one of the Exonerated Five. “How are you?”

Trump inexplicably replied, “Ah, then you’re on my side.”

Salaam replied, “No, no, no, I’m not on your side.”

Trump waved his hand and walked away.

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