Five men previously known as the "Central Park 5" who were wrongfully convicted of raping a jogger in 1989 are suing former President Donald Trump over false comments he made during the latest presidential debate.
On Monday (October 21), Yusef Salaam, Raymond Santana, Kevin Richardson, Antron Brown, and Korey Wise, now known as the "Exonerated 5," filed a lawsuit against Trump, alleging defamation, false light, and intentional infliction of emotional distress following his comments at the September 10 presidential debate, per CNBC.
The lawsuit notes that the five men were convicted as teenagers of several assaults that occurred in New York City’s Central Park in April 1989. At the time, Trump paid for a full-page ad in New York newspapers that “alluded to the assaults in Central Park without specifically identifying the suspects and called for the City of New York to ”[s]end a message loud and clear to those who would murder our citizens and terrorize New York—BRING BACK THE DEATH PENALTY AND BRING BACK OUR POLICE,” the suit states.
The group spent years in prison before they were exonerated in 2002 based on newly discovered evidence in the case. The Exonerated 5 were awarded $41 million by New York City, settling a lawsuit filed by the men for false arrest, malicious prosecution, and racially motivated conspiracy.
During September's presidential debate, Vice President Kamala Harris called out Trump for taking out the ad against the five men.
“Let’s remember, this is the same individual [Trump] who took out a full-page ad in The New York Times calling for the execution of five young Black and Latino boys who were innocent, the Central Park Five," Harris said.
Trump responded to Harris, saying, “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,” the Republican nominee added.
The Exonerated 5's lawsuit seeks damages of more than $75,000, with total compensatory and punitive damages to be determined during trial.
“Defendant Trump falsely stated [at the debate] that Plaintiffs killed an individual and pled guilty to the crime. These statements are demonstrably false,” the suit states. “Plaintiffs never pled guilty to any crime and were subsequently cleared of all wrongdoing. Further, the victims of the Central Park assaults were not killed."
The lawsuit also alleges that Trump's conduct during the debate “was part of a continuing pattern of extreme and outrageous conduct dating back several years, thus constituting a continuing tort.”
Trump campaign spokesman Steven Cheung addressed the lawsuit in a statement.
“This is just another frivolous, Election Interference lawsuit, filed by desperate left-wing activists, in an attempt to distract the American people from Kamala Harris’s dangerously liberal agenda and failing campaign," Cheung said.
“The frantic lawfare efforts by Lyin’ Kamala’s allies to interfere in the election are going nowhere and President Trump is dominating as he marches to a historic win for the American people on November 5th."
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