The Exonerated Five Sue Trump for Defamation for Claims Made During Debate Last Month
The five men wrongfully convicted in the infamous 1989 assault case in New York City have filed a defamation lawsuit against Republican Presidential candidate Donald J. Trump, claiming he falsely stated they were responsible for the crime and incorrectly stated that one of the victims had died during his debate last month.
The lawsuit, filed in federal court in Philadelphia by Raymond Santana, Kevin Richardson, Antron McCray, Korey Wise, and New York City Councilman Yusef Salaam, cites several false statements Trump made about the former "Central Park 5" during his September 10 debate with Democratic nominee Kamala Harris.
During the debate, Vice President Harris criticized Trump for taking out an ad in 1989 calling for the execution of the then-teen defendants.
“Defendant Trump falsely stated [at the debate] that Plaintiffs killed an individual and pled guilty to the crime. These statements are demonstrably false,” the civil suit reveals.
“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,” it continued.
The lawsuit claims that Trump’s comments during the debate were “part of a continuing pattern of extreme and outrageous conduct dating back several years, thus constituting a continuing tort.”
Trump campaign spokesman Steven Cheung responded with a statement, saying, “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.”
The men, now known as the Exonerated Five, are seeking damages of more than $75,000, with the total amount of compensatory and punitive damages to be determined at trial.
