The members of the “Central Park Five” have filed a defamation lawsuit against former President Donald Trump, accusing him of making false and defamatory statements about their 1989 case during a recent presidential debate. The lawsuit, filed in federal court in Philadelphia, claims that Trump knowingly misrepresented the facts of the case when he said that the five men pleaded guilty to crimes connected to the brutal assault and rape of a woman in New York City.
The group alleges that Trump’s comments, made during the September debate with Vice President Kamala Harris, were made with “reckless disregard” for the truth.
Trump’s False Statements and the Central Park Five’s Innocence
During the debate, Trump falsely claimed that the five men, teenagers at the time of the crime, “badly hurt a person, killed a person” during the attack.
However, the plaintiffs—Yusef Salaam, Raymond Santana, Kevin Richardson, Antron Brown, and Korey Wise—maintain that they never pleaded guilty to the charges and consistently asserted their innocence throughout the trial, their time in prison, and even after their release. Their attorneys emphasized that no one died in the Central Park assaults and that the statements made by Trump were factually incorrect.
The Central Park Five were wrongfully convicted of the 1989 assault, and they later gained national attention when their convictions were vacated in 2002. DNA evidence linked the crime to another individual, and the men were fully exonerated.
In 2014, they received a $41 million settlement from the City of New York after filing a civil rights lawsuit.
The lawsuit against Trump seeks both compensatory and punitive damages. It also claims that Trump’s statements placed the men in a false light and caused them “severe emotional distress.”
The group has been vocal about how their false confessions, which were coerced by police, led to years of wrongful imprisonment.
Trump’s Longstanding Involvement in the Case
Trump has been outspoken about the Central Park Five case since it first emerged in the late 1980s. At the time, Trump was a prominent figure in New York City’s real estate and celebrity scenes, and he took out full-page ads in several major newspapers calling for the reinstatement of the death penalty.
The ad, which screamed in all caps, “BRING BACK THE DEATH PENALTY. BRING BACK OUR POLICE!”, became one of the most notable actions surrounding the case. The ad itself was included as evidence in the lawsuit filed by the men.
Kamala Harris referenced Trump’s 1989 ad during the debate, highlighting how he had called for the execution of five young Black and Latino boys, who were later proven to be innocent. “This is the same individual who took out a full-page ad in The New York Times calling for the execution of five young Black and Latino boys who were innocent,” Harris said during the debate.
Trump’s comments during the debate served as a continuation of his long-standing narrative around the case, which he has refused to walk back, even as evidence exonerated the five men.
Trump’s Stance on Crime and the Central Park Five
Trump has consistently portrayed himself as tough on crime, a theme central to his three presidential campaigns. His comments during the debate underscore his willingness to use high-profile, racially charged criminal cases to reinforce his tough-on-crime image.
Despite the exoneration of the Central Park Five, Trump has continued to criticize the case in recent years. In 2014, he wrote an op-ed in the New York Daily News condemning the $41 million settlement awarded to the men, calling it “a disgrace.” In a 2016 interview with CNN, Trump maintained his belief that the men were guilty, saying, “They admitted they were guilty.”
The defamation lawsuit represents the latest chapter in the ongoing controversy surrounding Trump’s involvement with the Central Park Five case. Despite overwhelming evidence that the men were wrongfully convicted, Trump has refused to retract his previous statements, continuing to stand by his original position.
The plaintiffs hope the lawsuit will hold Trump accountable for his false claims and provide a sense of justice for the emotional toll his words have caused.
In a country where race and criminal justice continue to intersect in contentious ways, the Central Park Five case remains a potent reminder of the consequences of public figures amplifying falsehoods.
With Trump’s long history of inflammatory statements and the upcoming legal battle, this case will likely continue to shape the public discourse on justice and accountability in America.
