The Central Park Jogger Case
In the Spring of 1989, around thirty teenagers were causing trouble by hurting and harassing others in Central Park. That night, endless crimes and robberies occured including the rape of Trisha Meili. Meili, a 28-year-old white woman, also known as the Central Park Jogger, was jogging in Central Park, as a part of her daily routine. She was beaten, raped, and left unconsious, as her story spread nationwide. She had a coma for 12 days but thankfully survived; however, she did not remember the details of the incident and who harmed her. As the case gripped New York City and the country, five Hispanic and Black boys, between the ages of 14-16 were found guilty of the crime. Kevin Richardson (14), Raymond Santana (14), Antron McCray (15), Yusef Salaam (15), and Korey Wise (16) - the Central Park Five.
The boys were taken in on account of intimidating and suspicious behavior but the focus shifted to the case of the Meili, and so the boys were interrogated and coerced to confess by the police. Playing into preconceived stereotypes about minority youth being dangerous and unhuman like, the Central Park Five were verbally and physically abused for endless hours without their parents or lawyers. They were finally forced into making false video-taped confessions. The DNA evidence did not match any of the boys; however, pressure to convict the offender led the court to convict the easiest target, regardless of their innocence. After two trials, the five teenagers, were convicted to six to thirteen years in prison for rape, assault, and robbery, including Korey Wise who was sentenced as an adult (he was 16).
Across the media, reporters, politicians, etc. depicted the teenagers as “animals” and “savages” saying that they came from a world of crack, no fathers, and were set out to hurt, rape, and kill others, and particularly white people (the enemies). Additionally, Donald Trump, at that time a large real estate developer spent thousands of dollars on ads printed in New York magazines saying “Bring Back the Death Penalty. Bring Back Our Police!” The police and press called the boy's actions as “wilding”, the action of storming the streets, conducting violent actions, out of anger and boredom. It became a nation-wide used term, and provided a concept for the idea that Black and Brown boys fun would become violent rape and murder. They also referred to the group of five teenagers as a wolf pack, basically insinuating that they were animals and only capable of harm.
Eventually, after serving their time in prison, the truth came out. After coming across Korey Wise in prison twice, the real criminal, Matias Reyes confessed to the crime. He was already in prison for a string of rapes and murder the previous couple days before the Central Park Jogger Case and was therefore not a victim. He said he acted alone and his DNA did in fact match. The five men eventually were cleared from their charges and received 41 million from the city. “We were convicted because of the color of our skin,” they said, and due to the racial stereotypes by prominent New Yorkers. Their story has also been converted to a Netflix show called “When They See Us.”
What is less known about the Central Park Jogger Case is the sixth convict, Steven Lopez. Mr. Lopez was interrogated by police but refused to confess to the rape allegations. However, the other teenagers accused Lopez of being involved in the incident. Months later, prosecutors offered Lopez a plea bargain where he would plead guilty to robbery for the rape charge to be dropped. He agreed even though he was innocent, and was sentenced one to four years in prison. After Reyes’ confession, those who testified against Lopez admitted that their previous statements about his involvements were false. Lopez's struggles and experience has been overlooked; however, finally in 2021, he filed a case and was just recently exonerated.
These young Black and Brown boys were portrayed as criminals, animals, and dangerous, despite their innocence. It provoked a stereotype that young male minorities were set out to commit crimes and inflict harm on others, without using actual evidence. These types of cases continue today, as false accusations and non-evidence based sentencing lead to the prosecution of Blacks and Latinos. According to the Innocence Project, 88% of DNA exonerees were Black and arrested as minors. In addition, racial discrimination is shown through police officers physically and verbally pressuring people of color to confess to crimes they did not commit - essentially using them as a scapegoat to “solve” crimes.