New York City Councilmember Yusef Salaam speaks alongside other members of the exonerated "Central Park Five" group at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago on Aug. 22, 2024. The group of exonerated men, whom Trump once accused of an infamous 1989 crime, say the former president knowingly repeated false information. [ more › ]

Central Park Five sue Donald Trump for defamation over presidential debate claim

New York City Councilmember Yusef Salaam speaks alongside other members of the exonerated "Central Park Five" group at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago on Aug. 22, 2024.

The group of exonerated men, whom Trump once accused of an infamous 1989 crime, say the former president knowingly repeated false information. [ more › ]

The exonerated Central Park Five filed a federal lawsuit against former President Donald Trump on Monday, accusing him of defaming them during a televised presidential debate on Sept. 10.

In their lawsuit, the five men claim Trump knowingly repeated false information about the infamous case with the intent to cause them emotional distress. They said the statements he made during the debate were part of a “continuing pattern of extreme and outrageous conduct dating back several years.”

The men — New York City Councilmember Yusef Salaam, Raymond Santana, Kevin Richardson, Antron Brown and Korey Wise — were wrongfully convicted and imprisoned for the 1989 rape and assault of Trisha Meili, who was jogging in Central Park when she was attacked.

During a portion of the debate addressing race, Vice President Kamala Harris invoked the full-page advertisement Trump took out in New York City newspapers in the assault’s wake. She said the ad was “calling for the execution of five young Black and Latino boys.”

In his response, Trump accused Harris of being “divisive.”

“They come up with things like what she just said going back many, many years when a lot of people, including Mayor Bloomberg, agreed with me on the Central Park Five,” he said. “They admitted, they said they pled guilty. And I said, well, if they pled guilty, they badly hurt the person, killed the person ultimately.’”

The lawsuit alleges that Trump’s statements contained several falsehoods. As Gothamist and other outlets reported, the Central Park Five never pleaded guilty. They were convicted at trial after providing confessions that ultimately proved to be false. All five men had their convictions vacated in 2002, thanks in part to DNA evidence. Meili was brutalized and left in a coma, but she was not killed.

The lawsuit says Trump has made public statements that point to his knowledge of the men’s exoneration, including posting on social media about a documentary film on the case.

“Given that Defendant Trump has seen the film, he knew that his statements at the September 10 debate were false, misleading and defamatory,” the filing states.

Following the debate, Salaam, a Harlem Democrat who was elected to the City Council last year, confronted Trump as he took questions from the press, according to the lawsuit.

“Ah, that’s good, you’re on my side,” Trump allegedly said.

“No, no, no,” Salaam said, per the lawsuit. “I’m not on your side.”

“Trump made his false and offensive statements with ill will and spite, and with wanton, reckless or willful disregard for their injurious effects on Plaintiffs,” the men’s lawsuit argues.

Their attorney, Shanin Specter, said in a statement that the men are seeking to again correct the record and clear their names. The lawsuit seeks at least $75,000 in compensatory and punitive damages and the plaintiffs’ out-of-pocket costs.

“This is just another frivolous, Election Interference lawsuit, filed by desperate left-wing activists, in an attempt to distract the American people from Kamala Harris’s dangerously liberal agenda and failing campaign," Steven Cheuing, Trump campaign communications director, said in a statement.