A federal judge has rejected President Donald Trump’s attempt to dismiss a defamation lawsuit brought against him by the men formerly known as the Central Park Five, who were wrongfully convicted and subsequently exonerated for the 1989 rape of a woman in New York City’s Central Park. The lawsuit accuses Trump of making false and defamatory statements about them during a presidential debate with then-Vice President Kamala Harris.
The judge denied Trump’s motion to dismiss, stating that the men had a valid claim for defamation based on Trump’s misrepresentation of key facts of the case. Trump had incorrectly stated during the debate that the men had pleaded guilty and implied that they had caused harm or killed someone, which was not the case. The men never pleaded guilty, and no victim died in connection with the crime.
The five men—Yusef Salaam, Antron McCray, Kevin Richardson, Raymond Santana, and Korey Wise—are seeking compensatory and punitive damages, alleging that Trump knowingly defamed them and intentionally sought to cause them distress. While the judge dismissed the claim for intentional infliction of emotional distress, she allowed the defamation claim to proceed to trial.
Trump’s lawyer called the lawsuit unfounded, claiming Trump’s statements were protected by the First Amendment and were substantially true. The men, who were teenagers when they were wrongfully accused and convicted, hope that the lawsuit will ultimately vindicate them and clear their names once and for all.
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