Tuesday, October 22, 2024
Year : 2, Issue: 8
The five men wrongfully convicted in a 1989 jogger rape case in New York, known as the Central Park Five, sued former President Donald Trump on Monday for defamation, according to news outlets.
The lawsuit was filed in federal court and stated that Trump, the Republican presidential nominee, defamed them during the Sept. 10 debate with Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic nominee, by falsely claiming that the men killed someone and pleaded guilty.
Court filings cited several statements Trump made about the men after Harris blasted the former president for taking out an ad in 1989 calling for the then-teen defendants to be executed.
“Defendant Trump falsely stated (at the debate) that Plaintiffs killed an individual and pled guilty to the crime. These statements are demonstrably false,” the complaint said.
“Plaintiffs never pled guilty to any crime and were subsequently cleared of all wrongdoing,” the civil suit continued. “Further, the victims of the Central Park assaults were not killed.”
The plaintiffs in the case, who now refer to themselves as the Exonerated Five, after they were exonerated of their accused crimes in 2002, are Yusef Salaam, Raymond Santana, Kevin Richardson, Antron Brown and Korey Wise. Salaam is now a member of the New York City Council.
The men are claiming damages of more than $75,000, with total compensatory and punitive damages to be determined at trial.
Source: Anadolu Agency
