Five men who were wrongfully convicted have filed a defamation lawsuit against Donald Trump, accusing him of making false claims during the recent presidential debate.
While debating Vice President Kamala Harris in September, Trump, the Republican presidential nominee, falsely claimed these men had killed someone and pleaded guilty.
The case dates to April 1989, when a jogger in Central Park was raped. Five teenagers were arrested and charged with rape. During this period, Donald Trump paid for a full-page ad in New York newspapers, calling for their execution.
These men, known as Central Park Five, were sentenced to prison before being exonerated in 2002 after newly discovered DNA evidence proved their innocence. They now refer to themselves as Exonerated Five, and one of the teens, Yusef Salaam, is currently a member of the New York City Council.
When Harris pointed out the fact that Trump “Took out a full-page ad calling for their execution,” he responded by saying “They admitted – they said, they pled guilty.” He continued, “And I said, well, if they pled guilty they badly hurt a person, killed person ultimately. And if they pled guilty – then they pled we’re not guilty.”
However, the civil suit wrote that these statements by Donald Trump are false, as they never pleaded guilty, and no one was killed.
The Exonerated Five is now suing Trump for defamation, false light, and intentional infliction of emotional distress, requesting damages of more than $75,000, with total compensatory and punitive damages to be determined at trial.
However, Trump campaign spokesman Steven Cheung stated that these are nothing more than desperate left-wing activists attempting to interfere in the election, adding that Trump is expected to win a “historic victory” in November.
