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Unfortunately for Rump's hatefest, fourteen years ago a serial rapist and murderer named Matias Reyes not only confessed to the crime but his confession was confirmed by DNA matching --- which testing found no match for any of the "Central Park Five". Reyes also accurately described the scene of the crime and said he has acted alone.
And yet Rump --- ever entrenched in his ivory tower of self-delusional hate --- to this day, fourteen years later, can't admit he was wrong, can't bring himself to apologize to the Central Park Five, and doubles down on his own stupidity, apparently hoping that conviction will come off as ---- I dunno. Sump'm.
>> Soon after Mr Trump made the statement to CNN, the Washington Post broke the story of the Republican nominee bragging as he filmed a 2005 segment for Access Hollywood that he could grab women's genitals.
In the ensuing uproar, the Central Park Five comments were lost.
With them went an opportunity to carefully examine why Mr Trump refuses to accept the exonerations of the five men, and what implications that has for a Trump presidency.
There were no questions about it at the Sunday debate. However, many prominent observers want the moment marked.
"Apparently Mr Trump is unfamiliar with the concept of wrongful conviction," tweeted documentarian Ken Burns, who made a critically acclaimed film about the bungled investigation and prosecution of the five boys.
.... Some, like the Washington Post's Eugene Robinson, called Mr Trump's stance blatantly racist.
"For young African American and Latino men, Trump has a clear and ominous message: You must be guilty of something. Not even scientific proof can convince him otherwise," Robinson wrote.
"If that is not racism, the word has no meaning."
Mr Trump's refusal to acknowledge his mistake is even more puzzling given that there is nothing particularly partisan to dig into here.
Both Republicans and Democrats say that the country is in need of criminal justice reform, and the existence of false confessions has been proven time and time again through DNA evidence.
It seems that as the "law and order" candidate, Mr Trump believes there can be no acknowledgment of past mistakes.
As Vox's Victoria Massie writes, "by refusing to recognise when the law has wronged citizens, he sets a dangerous message that justice is not necessary to maintain social order". <<
Get all that? Doesn't matter that they were not guilty of anything. Doesn't matter that they were completely exonerated by DNA evidence. Doesn't even matter that the actual perpetrator was identified and is in jail for probably forever. What's important is that the Narcissist-in-Cheetos doesn't back down when he commits a fuckup. So just kill them.
>> Last week, just before the explosive 'hot mic' tape upheaved the Republican nominee's campaign, Mr Trump told CNN he still believes the Central Park Five are guilty, despite DNA evidence.
"They admitted they were guilty. The police doing the original investigation say they were guilty. The fact that that case was settled with so much evidence against them is outrageous," he said in a statement to the network.
The Central Park Five were five teenagers, aged 15 to 18, who were arrested and convicted in the 1989 beating and rape of a 28-year-old female jogger in Central Park, New York City.
.... In this climate, and in response to the attack, Donald Trump - then known only as the flashy real estate developer who had just purchased the Taj Mahal Casino in Atlantic City - took out a full-page ad in four New York newspapers.
"Bring back the death penalty. Bring back our police!" the ad read.
"I want to hate these murderers and I always will. I am not looking to psychoanalyse or understand them, I am looking to punish them," he continued. <<
"They admitted they were guilty. The police doing the original investigation say they were guilty. The fact that that case was settled with so much evidence against them is outrageous," he said in a statement to the network.
The Central Park Five were five teenagers, aged 15 to 18, who were arrested and convicted in the 1989 beating and rape of a 28-year-old female jogger in Central Park, New York City.
.... In this climate, and in response to the attack, Donald Trump - then known only as the flashy real estate developer who had just purchased the Taj Mahal Casino in Atlantic City - took out a full-page ad in four New York newspapers.
"Bring back the death penalty. Bring back our police!" the ad read.
"I want to hate these murderers and I always will. I am not looking to psychoanalyse or understand them, I am looking to punish them," he continued. <<
Unfortunately for Rump's hatefest, fourteen years ago a serial rapist and murderer named Matias Reyes not only confessed to the crime but his confession was confirmed by DNA matching --- which testing found no match for any of the "Central Park Five". Reyes also accurately described the scene of the crime and said he has acted alone.
And yet Rump --- ever entrenched in his ivory tower of self-delusional hate --- to this day, fourteen years later, can't admit he was wrong, can't bring himself to apologize to the Central Park Five, and doubles down on his own stupidity, apparently hoping that conviction will come off as ---- I dunno. Sump'm.
>> Soon after Mr Trump made the statement to CNN, the Washington Post broke the story of the Republican nominee bragging as he filmed a 2005 segment for Access Hollywood that he could grab women's genitals.
In the ensuing uproar, the Central Park Five comments were lost.
With them went an opportunity to carefully examine why Mr Trump refuses to accept the exonerations of the five men, and what implications that has for a Trump presidency.
There were no questions about it at the Sunday debate. However, many prominent observers want the moment marked.
"Apparently Mr Trump is unfamiliar with the concept of wrongful conviction," tweeted documentarian Ken Burns, who made a critically acclaimed film about the bungled investigation and prosecution of the five boys.
.... Some, like the Washington Post's Eugene Robinson, called Mr Trump's stance blatantly racist.
"For young African American and Latino men, Trump has a clear and ominous message: You must be guilty of something. Not even scientific proof can convince him otherwise," Robinson wrote.
"If that is not racism, the word has no meaning."
Mr Trump's refusal to acknowledge his mistake is even more puzzling given that there is nothing particularly partisan to dig into here.
Both Republicans and Democrats say that the country is in need of criminal justice reform, and the existence of false confessions has been proven time and time again through DNA evidence.
It seems that as the "law and order" candidate, Mr Trump believes there can be no acknowledgment of past mistakes.
As Vox's Victoria Massie writes, "by refusing to recognise when the law has wronged citizens, he sets a dangerous message that justice is not necessary to maintain social order". <<
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