The five members of the Central Park Five, now known as the Innocent Five, have filed a defamation lawsuit against Donald Trump over comments he made during last month’s presidential debate.
The lawsuit focuses on the Sept. 10 debate in Pennsylvania, where President Trump was joined by Antron McCray, Kevin Richardson, Yusef Salaam, Raymond Santana and Corey Wise. He said five people had pleaded guilty when they went to trial in connection with the assault and rape of women. The victim died while running in Central Park on April 19, 1989.
In the debate, he said: “They admitted — they said they pled guilty. And I think if they plead guilty, they’re going to hurt people very badly and end up killing people.” And if they plead guilty, we plead guilty.” ”
At the time of the trial, each had pleaded not guilty, and the victim of the attack had survived.
The complaint states that President Trump’s statements are “patently false” and that “the plaintiffs have not pleaded guilty to any crime and have since been acquitted of all wrongdoing. The victim was not murdered,” he added. The complaint further states that the men, now in their 50s, “were injured as a result of Defendant Trump’s false and defamatory statements.”
The five, who were teenagers when they were charged, maintained their innocence throughout their trial and imprisonment. At trial, they were charged with assaulting the female jogger, as well as other assaults and robberies in Central Park.
The five men spent years in prison until they were exonerated in 2002 by DNA tests that implicated another man, a serial rapist. The city ultimately agreed to a legal settlement that paid the exonerated men $41 million.
The case subsequently came under intense scrutiny after it was claimed that five people were threatened and coerced into making false confessions.
The incident occurred at a time when racial tensions were high and crime dominated news headlines. Trump, then a real estate mogul, had placed large ads in newspapers calling for New York to reinstate the death penalty.
The defamation suit was filed in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.
The complaint notes that Salaam, a New York City councilman who represents the 9th District, attended the debate and was in the room when Trump spoke.
The five people did not disclose the amount of damages, but requested a trial to determine the amount.
“This is a desperate left-wing attempt to distract the American people from Kamala Harris’ dangerous liberal policies and failed campaign,” Trump campaign spokesman Stephen Chan said Monday. “This is just another frivolous election interference lawsuit filed by activists.”
“Unfortunately, the civil justice system does not allow us to ask Mr. Trump to apologize or retract his statements,” Shannyn Specter, an attorney for the five, said Monday. The most we can get is monetary damages that compensate both these five people for defaming Mr. Trump and the punishment of Mr. Trump for making these statements. ”
He said it would be “helpful” if Trump apologized or retracted his comments, but added: “We’re not holding our breath.”
