There were five of them, not even men yet, accused of a violent rape. They were prosecuted aggressively by district attorneys and vilified by a tabloid press, then sent to prison for as many as 13 years.

In 1989, the case of the Central Park Five, as the attack on a 28-year-old white investment banker in uptown Manhattan has come to be known, roiled the country, touching on race and class and fears about crime.

But the defendants -- all black or Latino, none older than 16 -- didn't commit the attack on the Central Park jogger. They were the victims of coerced confessions and authorities eager for scapegoats.

Then in 2002, after the five had all spent years in jail, a previously unknown man admitted to beating and sexually assaulting the woman. All five of the convictions were vacated.

An explosive new documentary looks at a case once referred to as "the crime of the century": the Central Park Five. Many people have heard about the case, but far too few know that innocent teenagers were imprisoned as a result. The film tells the story of how five black and Latino teenagers were arrested in 1989 for beating and raping a white woman in New York City’s Central Park. Media coverage at the time portrayed the teens as guilty and used racially coded terms like "wolf pack" to refer to the group of boys accused in the attack.

Donald Trump took out full-page ads in four city newspapers calling for the reinstatement of the death penalty so they could be executed. However, the convictions of the five were vacated in 2002 when the real rapist came forward and confessed to the crime, after the five defendants had already served sentences of almost seven to 13 years.

New York City is refusing to settle a decade-long civil lawsuit brought by the men. And now lawyers for the city are seeking access to footage gathered for the new film.

Amy Goodman of Democracy Now! speaks to one of the Central Park Five, Raymond Santana; filmmaker Sarah Burns; and journalist Natalie Byfield.

Full transcript after the jump.

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Connor Stevens, Doug Wright and Brandon Baxter -- three men with ties to Occupy Cleveland who were arrested in the spring for plotting to blow up a bridge -- entered guilty pleas on Wednesday afternoon. A fourth man pleaded guilty earlier this year, while a fifth suspect is undergoing a competency evaluation. All three pled guilty to "conspiracy to use a weapon of mass destruction, attempted use of a weapon of mass destruction and attempted use of an explosive device to destroy property used in interstate commerce," according to the DOJ.

“The defendants today made a voluntary choice to plead guilty, the same way they made voluntary choices to try to detonate what they thought were explosive devices they had planted at the foot of a bridge," Steven Dettelbach, U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Ohio, said in a statement.

“We are pleased these defendants have admitted to their intent to utilize violence, which threatened innocent citizens, to further their ideological views,” said FBI Special Agent in Charge Stephen Anthony.

A deaf woman from Tacoma, Washington called 911 seeking help from police because she was being attacked inside her own home, but when she ran out to meet police officers, they fired a stun gun at her and took her into custody.

After being hit with the stun gun, Lashonn White fell to the sidewalk leaving her bruised, bloody and confused. No interpreter was present, and she was denied one during her three days of incareration.

“All I’m doing is waving my hands in the air, and the next thing I know, I’m on the ground and then handcuffed. It was almost like I blacked out. I was so dizzy and disoriented,” White said.

Witnesses said White began bleeding heavily from her knuckles and the right side of her face swelled up immediately after she hit the pavement following the Taser jolt.

Charged with simple assault and obstruction of a public servant (law enforcement officer), White spent 60 hours in jail before a prosecutor requested that no charges be filed in her case.

Neighbors who witnessed the incident, and spoke to Tacoma police at the time, gave vastly different accounts from the officer's police reports.

More on this from KIRO in Tacoma.

[Update: I've been had! Turns out it's really satire! Sorry, folks, you'll just have to go hungry now after your friskings.]

McDonalds and the New York Police Department have teamed up together for a new program called "Three Strikes, You're In!"

Only in Bloomberg's NYC could this happen, and you just can't make this stuff up. The program is advertised as follows on an NYPD website:

"A new program that rewards innocent New Yorkers who are stopped and frisked.
Just fill in your “Three Strikes” voucher and present it at any participating McDonald’s for
a FREE Happy Meal™! "

"Carry your voucher with you at all times and when the police officer tells you that you are free to go, just write down the police officer’s badge number. Collect three and
You’ve Got a FREE Happy Meal™"

So, next time you're thrown up against a wall, or onto the hood of a car, or even down onto the sidewalk, cheer up! You're one step closer to a free hamburger or chicken McNugget Happy Meal. You even get your choice of french fries or apple dippers, as well as choice of drink.

Gee thanks, NYPD, McDonalds. This is just...swell.