DNA Evidence Be Damned, Donald Trump Insists 'Central Park 5 Rapists' Are Guilty

Even in the face of DNA evidence and a confession that says otherwise, Donald Trump still insists that five black and Latino teens were responsible for the rape and bludgeoning of a white jogger in Central Park in 1989, one of the highest-profile crimes in New York City history.

Arrested as teens and convicted based largely on shady confessions, four of the men were released after serving seven years in prison, the fifth after 13 years behind bars.

The case exacerbated already tense race relations in New York. The jogger was a white banker; those arrested included four black teens and a Latino.

"They admitted they were guilty," Trump said in a statement to CNN published Thursday. "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. And the woman, so badly injured, will never be the same."

Raymond Santana, one of the Central Park 5, blasted Trump in a series of tweets Friday afternoon, saying, "What more do we have to prove? I'm tired of proving our innocence! I don't care what this a--hole thinks."

Trump's statement omitted a couple of important facts.

After authorities found the jogger tied up, raped and badly beaten in the park, suffering from hypothermia and brain damage, authorities questioned the five teens. The crime had no witnesses. DNA evidence was in its infancy.

The men were reportedly questioned for two days, when they said they were deprived of food and sleep. Eventually they confessed but all blamed each other, and no one ever admitted to raping the woman.

In two trials, the men received sentences ranging from five to 15 years.

The case was a massive story in New York City, and Trump was at the forefront of it. He bought advertisements in four major newspapers in the city that said, "Bring Back The Death Penalty. Bring Back Our Police!"

"I want to hate these muggers and murderers," Trump wrote in the ad. "They should be forced to suffer and, when they kill, they should be executed for their crimes. They must serve as examples so that others will think long and hard before committing a crime or an act of violence."

In 2002, though, a man confessed to the assault. His DNA matched semen that was found in the woman's pants. He said he acted alone.

New York City paid the Central Park 5 $41 million.

“This settlement is an act of justice for those five men that is long overdue,” New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio said when the settlement was announced.

In a New York Daily News editorial at the time, though, Trump called the settlement "a disgrace."

"Settling doesn't mean innocence," he wrote. "Speak to the detectives on the case and try listening to the facts. These young men do not exactly have the pasts of angels."

Trump continues to register single-digit support among black voters this election.

Image via Gage Skidmore, Flickr, used under Creative Commons