Central Park 5 celebrate Trump defeat

‘You let racism surface and many lives were lost because you never stood on the side of justice’

(L-R) Kevin Richardson, Raymond Santana Jr., Korey Wise, Yusef Salaam, and Antron McCray of the “Central Park Five" speak onstage at the 2019 BET Awards in Los Angeles (Getty Images)

A group of men known as the Central Park Five have made their jubilance about US President Donald Trump’s election defeat known on social media.

Kevin Richardson, Antron McCray, Korey Wise, Raymond Santana and Yusef Salaam declared that it was “justice” that Mr Trump had been voted out of the White House after news outlets called the race for president-elect Joe Biden on 7 November.

In 1989, all five men were arrested as teenagers by police in New York over the rape and assault of a woman who had been jogging through the park on 19 April.

At the time, Mr Trump fuelled public outrage around the assault by buying a full-page newspaper advertisement calling for New York State to adopt the death penalty.

They were falsely convicted of assaulting the woman and served out their sentences, before all were exonerated after another inmate confessed to the crime.

The president refused to apologise for his comments about the Central Park Five, telling reporters in 2019 that the men “admitted their guilt” and adding that some prosecutors “think that the city never should have settled that case”.

Mr Trump also described the US$41m settlement awarded to the wrongfully convicted men by the city a “disgrace” and “the heist of the century”.

But after the president’s defeat at the polls, Mr Santana tweeted a recent photo of the Central Park Five with the words: “@realdonaldtrump you thought we wouldn’t make it, you thought we wouldn’t prevail. #TheExonerated5 #wearestillhere.”

He also posted a photo of famed boxer Muhammad Ali standing over fallen opponent Sonny Liston - with the hashtag #TheExonerated5 over Muhammad’s head and the president’s Twitter tag under the defeated man - and added a lengthy caption that said Mr Trump had done “nothing but divided the country” for four years.

“You let racism surface and many lives were lost because you never stood on the side of justice,” wrote Mr Santana. “You spread lies and supported white supremacy. You mocked and made fun of the innocent.

“And because of your selfishness over 240,000 Americans lost their lives to a virus that could have been prevented… You will go down as the worst president in history.”

Mr Wise, the oldest of the five men, shared a video of himself dancing on his Instagram account with the caption: “Thank you America for believing that your VOTE matters!!! It’s been a long time coming, but for the first time I truly feel exonerated.”

Mr Richardson posted a photo of himself raising a glass, writing: “A little brunch with the Wife celebrating the Defeat (it was very personal!!!) of Agent Orange #45.

“Today was a good day. Time to restore this country, we have a lot of work to do, but let’s do this.”

Mr Salaam did not make a personal comment on the election, but retweeted messages of “justice” from Mr Santana, as well as a tweet from filmmaker Ava DuVernay, who directed the critically-acclaimed miniseries about the Central Park 5, When They See Us.

Ms DuVernay said: “Imagine the person who took out full-page ads to call for your execution being voted in as President of the United States.

“Now, imagine that person being fired in shame. Sending my love to Korey, Antron, Raymond, Kevin and Yusef. Enjoy this day, my brothers.”