NEW: Central Park 5 members sue Trump over ‘defamatory’ debate comments
“Defendant Trump’s statements were false and defamatory in numerous respects,” the lawsuit stated.
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“Defendant Trump’s statements were false and defamatory in numerous respects,” the lawsuit stated.
The Central Park Five, who spent five years behind bars for the assault and rape of a woman before the case was vacated in 2002, have launched a defamation lawsuit against 2024 GOP presidential candidate Donald Trump in connection to comments made during the presidential debate.
The defamation suit, filed in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, asks that a trial be held to determine damages, NBC News reported.
The five men, Antron McCray, Kevin Richardson, Yusef Salaam, Raymond Santana and Korey Wise, said that Trump knew he was acting with "reckless disregard" for the truth when in the September debate he said that they had pleaded guilty to the assault and rape of the woman who had been running in Central Park on April 19, 1989. He said that the five men, then teenagers, had "badly hurt a person, killed a person," CNN reported.
"Defendant Trump’s statements were false and defamatory in numerous respects," the lawsuit stated. "Plaintiffs never pled guilty to the Central Park assaults. Plaintiffs all pled not guilty and maintained their innocence throughout their trial and incarceration, as well as after they were released from prison."
"None of the victims of the Central Park assaults were killed," the suit added. The case was vacated in 2002 after DNA evidence linked the attack to another man. New York City agreed to pay a $41 million settlement.
The suit stated that Trump’s comments caused them to "suffer severe emotional distress."
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