Al Sharpton celebrates Trump indictment as ‘spiritual’ payback

Rev. Al Sharpton on Tuesday celebrated a Manhattan grand jury’s indictment against former President Donald Trump as a sort of “spiritual” payback for his White House policies and his call for the death penalty for the “Central Park Five.” 

The activist and MSNBC host made the claim at a New York University forum on Tuesday, according to the Washington Times, where he also called it “ironic” that Trump, 76, was indicted on the 55th anniversary of the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and that the criminal case against him is being handled by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, who is black.

“I’m always looking for the spiritual interpretation of something. And I think it’s very ironic that on … the 55th anniversary of Dr. King’s assassination, that the president that tried to turn back a lot of what King did is going to be arraigned in Manhattan Supreme Court by a Black DA,” Sharpton said at the event, held before Trump’s arraignment.

 “I’m thinking of Dr. King as the first Black Manhattan DA will deliver us justice and bring criminal charges against President Trump,” he added. 

Sharpton, founder and president of the National Action Network, also suggested that 45th president’s indictment is “justice” for a full-page newspaper ad taken out by Trump in 1989 that called for five black and Hispanic teenagers wrongfully accused of raping a white woman in Central Park to be executed. 

The five accused, known as the “Central Park 5,” were later exonerated. 

“I’m thinking of the Exonerated 5, who were not just victims of a criminal justice system that did not protect them, but also of vitriol and hate spewed by men like Trump,” Sharpton said. “But today we see progress with the arc of history bending towards justice, just as Dr. King said. While we celebrate this moment of justice on the anniversary of King’s assassination, we have to remember the work is not done.”

Sharpton also noted that Trump — who was charged in New York for falsifying business records in regard to hush money payments — is being investigated in Georgia by a black district attorney, Fani Willis, for his alleged efforts to overturn the 2020 election results in the Peach State.

“You might say the arc of justice is long, but it bends towards [justice] and I think that that often comes full circle,” Sharpton added.

Sharpton’s comments on Tuesday echoed a statement he released last week on the day the grand jury voted in favor of indicting the former commander-in-chief.

“All I can say is, what goes around comes around,” Sharpton said in a statement.

“It’s not lost on those of us who were there in 1989 that Donald Trump will likely walk into the same courthouse where the Exonerated 5 were falsely convicted for a crime they did not commit,” he said.

“Let’s not forget that it was Donald Trump who took out full-page ads calling for these five Black and Brown young men to get the death penalty,” the activist added.

“This is the same man who’s now calling for violence when he has to go through the same system. The same man will have to stand up in a courtroom and see firsthand what the criminal justice system is like.”