U.S. President Donald Trump will now have to face the Central Park Five lawsuit in court over a case regarding his remark last year after a federal judge declined the president’s request to throw the case away.
The Central Park Five were the five teenager wrongfully convicted of rape and assault a woman in New York City’s Central Park in 1989 before being exoneration in 2002. Trump at that time paid major New York newspapers to print his advocate for the death penalty’s revival.
When former vice president, Kamala Harris, brought that topic up during the debate against Trump on September 10, 2024, he responded by claiming that the five plead guilty and stated that the victim was killed, which are all at fault, leading to a defamation lawsuit by the five.
Trump asked the judge to dismiss the case, claiming the five are seeking to “recast political rhetoric and debate about criminal justice and public safety as ‘defamation.’” U.S. District Judge Wendy Beetlestone, however, ruled to move the lawsuit forward this Thursday.
Trump’s lawyer, Karin Sweigart, stated that this lawsuit is another attack against Trump, but vow to continue fighting to protect U.S.’ free speech rights.
