The Exonerated Five, formerly known as the Central Park Five, have filed a defamation lawsuit against Donald Trump following his remarks during the September 10th presidential debate. During the debate, Trump falsely claimed that the five men — Antron McCray, Kevin Richardson, Yusef Salaam, Raymond Santana, and Korey Wise — had “pled guilty” in connection to the 1989 assault and rape of a female jogger in Central Park, and that the victim had died. Trump stated, “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.”
In reality, the five men had pleaded not guilty at their trials and were exonerated in 2002 after DNA evidence linked another man to the crime. The victim survived the attack. The complaint calls Trump’s comments “demonstrably false,” emphasizing, “Plaintiffs never pled guilty to any crime and were subsequently cleared of all wrongdoing. Further, the victims of the Central Park assaults were not killed.”
The lawsuit, filed in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, highlights the ongoing harm caused by Trump’s statements, noting that the men, now in their 50s, have “suffered injuries as a result of Defendant Trump’s false and defamatory statements.” Despite the lawsuit, no specific amount in damages was requested; instead, the Exonerated Five seek a trial to determine appropriate compensation.
Trump’s campaign spokesman dismissed the lawsuit as “frivolous” and politically motivated, while attorney Shanin Specter, representing the five men, expressed doubt that Trump would apologize or retract his statements, though he added that it would be “helpful” if he did so. The five men spent years in prison before being cleared, and the city eventually settled with them for $41 million.
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