The Central Park Five, now known as the Exonerated Five, have filed a defamation lawsuit against Donald Trump for falsely claiming they had confessed to the assault and rape of a woman in Central Park in 1989. During a debate last month, Trump stated that the men had pleaded guilty and that the victim had died, which are untrue statements as the men had pleaded not guilty and the victim survived. The lawsuit claims that the false remarks have caused the men harm and seeks damages to be determined at trial.
The five men were teenagers when they were wrongfully convicted and spent years in prison before DNA evidence linked another man to the crime. The city of New York eventually paid them $41 million in a legal settlement. The case was heavily scrutinized as the men claimed they were coerced into making false confessions due to racial tensions and Trump’s calls for the death penalty at the time.
The defamation suit was filed in Pennsylvania and one of the men was present at the debate where Trump made his statements. Trump’s campaign has dismissed the lawsuit as a frivolous attempt to distract from the current political climate. The five men did not specify an amount for damages but are seeking a trial to determine compensation.
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