Donald Trump has been sued by the five men involved in the Central Park case—now known as the Exonerated Five. The group is suing the Republican presidential candidate over remarks he made during the most recent presidential debate.
The defamation suit, filed by Antron McCray, Kevin Richardson, Yusef Salaam, Raymond Santana, and Korey Wise, centers on Trump’s claim during the debate that they had pleaded guilty when they were tried in connection with the 1989 assault and rape of a female jogger in Central Park. Trump also falsely stated that the victim had died.
During the debate, Trump said: “They admitted — they said, they pled guilty. And I said, well, if they pled guilty, they badly hurt a person, killed a person ultimately. And if they pled guilty — then they pled we’re not guilty.”
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However, none of the men pleaded guilty during their trials, and the victim survived the attack.
The complaint asserts that Trump’s statements are “demonstrably false,” stating, “Plaintiffs never pled guilty to any crime and were subsequently cleared of all wrongdoing. Furthermore, the victim of the Central Park assault was not killed.” The complaint also notes that the five men, now in their 50s, have “suffered injuries as a result of Defendant Trump’s false and defamatory statements.”
The five men, who were teenagers at the time of their indictment, maintained their innocence throughout their trials and incarceration. They were charged with the assault of the female jogger, as well as other assaults and robberies that occurred in Central Park.
The men spent years in prison before being exonerated in 2002, when DNA evidence linked another man, a serial rapist, to the attack. The city eventually agreed to pay the exonerated men $41 million in a legal settlement.
The case drew widespread attention, with the men claiming they had been intimidated and coerced into making false confessions.
At the time, the case unfolded amid heightened racial tensions and rising crime rates. Trump, then a real estate mogul, took out large newspaper ads calling for the reinstatement of the death penalty in New York.
Dissatisfied with Trump’s recent statements, the five men are seeking legal redress through the defamation suit, which was filed in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.
The complaint also notes that Yusef Salaam, now a New York City Council Member representing District Nine, was present during the debate and heard Trump’s statements firsthand.
While the men did not request a specific amount in damages, they have asked for a trial to determine appropriate compensation.
In response, Trump’s campaign spokesman, Steven Cheung, said: “This is just another frivolous, election interference lawsuit filed by desperate left-wing activists trying to distract the American people from Kamala Harris’s dangerously liberal agenda and failing campaign.”
Shanin Specter, the attorney for the Exonerated Five, said: “Unfortunately, the civil justice system doesn’t allow us to require Mr. Trump to apologize or retract his statement. The most we can obtain are monetary damages to compensate these five men for the harm done to their reputations and to punish Mr. Trump for making these statements.”
While Specter acknowledged that it would be “helpful” if Trump apologized or retracted his remarks, he added, “We are not holding our breath for that.”
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