Showing & Discussion
Tuesday, July 19, 7pm
The film documents the story of five Black and
Latino young teenagers from Harlem who were wrongly arrested and then
convicted of beating and raping a white woman jogger in New York City’s
Central Park in 1989. They were coerced by the NY Police Department into
confessing to the brutal crime. They were viciously attacked in the
media nationwide as a “wolf pack.”
Donald
Trump took out a signed full page ad calling for their execution.
“Bring Back The Death Penalty. Bring Back The Police!” said the ad, and
above his signature, Trump wrote: “I want to hate these muggers and
murderers. 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.” This ad campaign was an important part of creating an
atmosphere that justified mass incarceration and the death penalty.
The
youth did 6-13 years in prison for a crime they did not commit, before
they were exonerated. This documentary is a must-see in the face of
today's police terror. Sarah Burns, her father, Ken Burns and her
husband, David McMahon's film chronicles one major instance of racist
injustice in the long and ugly history of this country.
