Former president Donald Trump has been sued for defamation by the Central Park Five, the group of men who were wrongfully convicted in a New York City rape case as teenagers, over false statements he made during last month’s presidential debate.
Yusef Salaam, Raymond Santana, Kevin Richardson, Antron Brown and Korey Wise claim Trump knowingly acted with “reckless disregard” when, during his September face-off against Vice President Kamala Harris, he stated they pled guilty to 1989 assault and rape of a woman in New York’s Central Park.
The Republican nominee for president also falsely claimed the group killed someone—not only was that not true, it was never alleged.
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“They admitted—they said, they pled guilty,” said Trump, according to the debate transcript. “And I said, well, if they pled guilty they badly hurt a person, killed a person ultimately.”
“Trump’s statements were false and defamatory in numerous respects,” reads a statement of claim for the men, who are now in their 50s, filed in Philadelphia federal court. “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.”
“None of the victims of the Central Park assaults were killed,” the statement added. “Trump falsely stated that Plaintiffs killed an individual and pled guilty to the crime. These statements are demonstrably false.”
The lawsuit says that, as a result of Trump’s comments, the men were made to “suffer severe emotional distress.” They are seeking both compensatory and punitive damages.
The juveniles, who were pressured into making false confessions in the case, were exonerated in 2002 when a man confessed to the rape, which was confirmed by DNA evidence.
After their sentences were vacated, the men sued the city and won a $41 million settlement in 2014. At the time, Trump called the settlement a “disgrace.”
Trump went on to claim, during his 2016 run for president, that he still believed the men were guilty.
In fact, his bellicose posturing about the attacks goes as far back as the Central Park case itself.
Just weeks after the teens were charged for 1989 sexual assault, Trump took out full-page ads in New York area newspapers calling for the reinstatement of the death penalty in New York. While he did not name the defendants, his ads made clear reference to the Central Park case.
He declined to apologize for the ads in 2019 and claimed the Central Park Five “admitted their guilt.”
Their 2024 lawsuit notes Trump’s 1989 ads “alluded to the assaults in Central Park without specifically identifying the suspects and called for the City of New York to ‘send a message loud and clear to those who would murder our citizens and terrorize New York—BRING BACK THE DEATH PENALTY AND BRING BACK OUR POLICE’”
Salaam is now a member of the New York City Council and Wise has gone on to be a prominent advocate for criminal justice reform.
