The Central Park Five, now calling themselves the Exonerated Five, have filed a defamation lawsuit against Donald Trump, accusing him of his remarks during the recent presidential debate.
The lawsuit centers on a Sept. 10 debate in Pennsylvania during which Trump said five men – Kevin Richardson, Korey Wise, Antron McCray, Yusef Salaam and Raymond Santana – had pleaded guilty to rape charges. and assaulting a woman. woman jogging in Central Park on April 19, 1989, and the victim died.
He said: “They confessed – they said, they pleaded guilty. And I said that if they confessed, they seriously harmed the person and ultimately killed him. And if they pleaded guilty, they admitted that we were not guilty. ” However, no one actually died and the men were later found innocent.
The complaint against Trump says his statements are “demonstrably false.” He added: “The plaintiffs never pleaded guilty to any crime and were subsequently cleared of any wrongdoing. Moreover, the victims of the Central Park attacks were not killed.” It also said the men “were injured by defendant Trump’s false and defamatory statements.”
All five, now 50, were teenagers when they were accused of raping the runner. They maintained their innocence throughout the trial. They were also charged with assaults in Central Park. They spent several years in prison before being found innocent in 2002 after new DNA evidence was discovered linking another man, a serial rapist, to the attack. Trump’s recent comments have reopened old wounds for men.
The lawsuit alleged that Donald Trump’s remarks were made recklessly and disregarded the truth. Shanin Specter, a lawyer representing the five men, said Trump defamed the group in front of 67 million people. It is further clarified here that the lawsuit has no political motives and was filed to seek justice.
Donald Trump campaign spokesman Steven Cheung said Monday: “This is yet another frivolous election interference lawsuit filed by desperate left-wing activists in an effort to distract the American people from Kamala Harris’ dangerously liberal agenda and the failure of the campaign.”
The five’s lawyer, Shanin, said: “Unfortunately, the civil justice system does not allow us to require Mr. Trump to apologize or retract his testimony. The only thing we can obtain is monetary damages that both compensate these five men for Mr. Trump’s destruction of their reputations and punish Mr. Trump for making these statements.”
While he said it would be “helpful” if Trump apologized or retracted his statements, “we’re not holding our breath about it.”
(With the participation of the agency)