There are many riveting moments in Ava DuVernay’s “When They See Us,” a documentary about the travesty of injustice endured by the Central Park Five, none more rewarding than her usage of actual television footage of Trump’s demand that the five receive the death penalty.
In the apogee of the police’s determination to pin the rape and beating on the five, especially the aggressive prosecution team, Trump paid $85,000 for his full page ads in the New York dailies incriminating the boys who were later exonerated after they had served from six to 13 years in prison, according to DuVernay’s miniseries, which can be seen on Netflix.
Six years ago, after Ken Burns released his documentary on the five, Trump tweeted, “The Central Park Five documentary was a one-sided piece of garbage that didn’t explain the horrific crimes of these young men while in the park.”
There is no indication that Trump’s claptrap, his insidious condemnation of innocent people, has changed. He remains as self-righteous and convinced of his own high-mighty authority as when he paid for the ads.
Sadly, Trump has expressed no remorse, no regrets and certainly no apologies for his reaction to the reports and his rush to judgment—not that we expect any of the sort from him. To expect him to recant on any of his misdeeds is futile.
Even to this day, Trump believes the five were/are guilty, and we needn’t present here more evidence of his cold-hearted contempt for the truth—tomorrow’s tweet will further indict him and make it all the more easier for us say Make America Great Again—Trump Must Go!