What did Trump say about Central Park 5? Exonerated group members sue ex-president over "false" remarks during debate
On Monday, October 21, members of the Central Park Five filed a lawsuit against former President Donald Trump over his allegedly "false and defamatory" statements about the 1989 case during the Presidential debate on September 10.
The 1989 Central Park Five case involved five people — Yusef Salaam, Raymond Santana, Kevin Richardson, Antron Brown, and Korey Wise — who pleaded not guilty to the rape and assault of a woman. After getting wrongfully convicted, the five were finally released in 2002.
The lawsuit mentions several statements made by Trump after Kamala Harris attacked him for buying ads fueling the public fire and calling for the death penalty for the five convicts. During the presidential debate in September, Donald Trump said:
“They admitted - they said, they pled guilty,” the former President said. "And I said, well, if they pled guilty, they badly hurt a person, killed a person ultimately.”
Steven Chueng, Donald Trump's spokesperson, described the lawsuit to be "just another frivolous election-interference lawsuit filed by desperate left-wing activists to distract the American people."
What did the plaintiff's lawyer say about Donald Trump? The Central Park Five case explored
The infamous Central Park Five case of 1989 concerned the alleged assault and rape of Trisha Meili, a woman who was jogging in Central Parl on April 19, 1989. On that night, several teenagers entered Central Park, which resulted in reports of mugging and physical assaults.
For the rape and assault of Meili, six teenagers — Steven Lopez, Antron McCray, Kevin Richardson, Yusef Salaam, Raymond Santana, and Korey Wise — were arrested. However, the charge against Steven Lopez was soon dropped after he pleaded guilty to a different assault.
The remaining five were known as the Central Park Five. They were charged with the rape and assault of Trisha Meili and sentenced to prison time ranging from five to thirteen years. More than a decade after the attack, Matias Reyes confessed to the Meili rape and assault after he was charged with five other rapes from that day in 1989.
The five convicted for the Central Park Five case were exonerated in 2002. They later sued the city of New York for alleged malicious prosecution, defamation, racial discrimination, and emotional distress — a lawsuit that was settled by the city for $41 million in 2014.
Fast forward to the present, the plaintiffs' attorneys claim that Donald Trump made defamatory statements against Yusef Salaam, Raymond Santana, Kevin Richardson, Antron Brown, and Korey Wise in the Presidential debate against Kamala Harris.
“Defendant Trump’s statements were false and defamatory in numerous respects. 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," the lawsuit states.
It also alleges that the former President's words placed them in a false light and made them suffer "severe emotional distress." Therefore, the five men seek compensatory and punitive damages from the former President.
Since 1989, Donald Trump has been outspoken about the Central Park Five case. At that time, he was a bigshot real estate magnate and published a full-page advertisement against the five convicts in several newspapers. The advertisement stated:
“BRING BACK THE DEATH PENALTY. BRING BACK OUR POLICE!”
Donald Trump maintained his stance even after the accused were exonerated in 2002 and has used the case several times in his Presidential campaign over the years. In October 2016, the former President publicly called them out in an interview with CNN, saying:
“They admitted they were guilty.”
In 2014, he wrote an op-ed in the New York Times daily describing the $41 million settlement as a "disgrace."