(The Hill) — The exonerated Central Park Five sued former President Donald Trump for defamation on Monday over his comments at the recent presidential debate about their wrongful convictions for rape and assault.
During a segment on race and politics at the Sept. 10 debate, Trump said “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,” Trump continued.
The five Black and Hispanic teenagers were wrongfully convicted of raping and assaulting a woman jogging in Central Park in 1989. They spent years in prison before their convictions were overturned in 2002 once the true culprit ultimately confessed, which was backed by DNA evidence.
The lawsuit notes the five members never pleaded guilty and the victim wasn’t killed, claiming Trump’s comments were made with a “reckless disregard for their falsity” to the tens of millions of Americans who tuned into the debate.
“Defendant Trump’s conduct at the September 10 debate was extreme and outrageous, and it was intended to cause severe emotional distress to Plaintiffs,” the complaint states.
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Members of the Central Park Five have chastised Trump as he hopes to win a second White House term, including by addressing the Democratic National Convention this summer.
The lawsuit, filed in federal court in Pennsylvania, includes claims of defamation, false light and intentional infliction of emotional distress. It asks for an unspecified amount of damages.
The Hill has reached out to a Trump spokesperson for comment.
Trump’s comments about the Central Park Five at the debate came during a segment on race, when Vice President Kamala Harris noted that Trump in 1989 paid for full-page advertisements in major New York newspapers calling for the return of the death penalty following the incident.
“Took out a full-page ad calling for their execution,” Harris said at the debate, prompting Trump’s comments.
The Central Park Five — Antron Brown, Kevin Richardson, Yusef Salaam, Raymond Santana, and Korey Wise — previously received a settlement of $41 million from the city of New York after they filed a civil rights lawsuit.
Salaam, who now sits on the city council, was in the spin room during last month’s debate, where he confronted Trump minutes after the former president made the comments at the center of the new lawsuit.
“I’m Yusef Salaam, one of the Exonerated Five,” Salaam said.
“You’re on my side,” Trump responded.
Salaam then replied, “No, no, no, I’m not on your side.”
