Central Park 5 sues Trump over debate comments wrongly calling them guilty

On Monday, five Black and Latinx men, formerly known as the “Central Park Five,” filed a lawsuit against former President Donald Trump, who, as a presidential candidate this year, falsely claimed before a national audience that the men were guilty of sexual assault. assault from which they were exonerated more than 20 years ago.

As teenagers in 1989, the five men were arrested by New York City police on suspicion of sexually and physically assaulting a female jogger in Central Park. After being coerced by the police (without lawyers or parents present), some of the five confessed to the crime, thinking that this would end the hours-long interrogations to which they were subjected.

“During the hours of incessant questioning we each endured, the detectives lied to us repeatedly. They said they compared our fingerprints with the evidence at the crime scene and told each of us that the others had confessed and implicated us in the attack. They said if we would just admit our participation in the attack, we could go home,” the men, who now call themselves the Exonerated Five, wrote in a joint editorial in 2021. “All of these were blatant lies . »

The men later recanted their statements and none of the five ever pleaded guilty in court. They maintained their innocence for years, even after a jury found them guilty and sent to prison for the crime.

In 2002, after another individual confessed to the crime and DNA evidence proved all five men were innocent, the men were released from prison. The city then agreed to pay them $41 million in legal fees.

Since the teens were initially charged in 1989, Trump has unnecessarily involved himself in the case. For example, when they were first indicted, Trump took out a full-page ad in The New York Timesciting the case to demand that New York state reinstate the death penalty. Even after their exoneration, Trump refused to apologize for his mischaracterization of the men, saying their forced confessions by police were proof they committed the crime and deserved to be executed by the state.

“They admitted their guilt,” Trump said in 2019 when asked if he had changed his mind or felt remorse for posting the ad.

More recent claims by the ex-president led to the lawsuit the five men filed this week. Trump repeated these false claims during a presidential debate against his Democratic opponent, Vice President Kamala Harris, in early September. Trump said:

They admitted – they said they pleaded guilty. And I said, well, if they pleaded guilty, they would seriously injure a person, ultimately kill them. And if they plead guilty, then they plead that we are not guilty.

The five men’s lawsuit notes that Trump’s comments are “patently false.”

“The plaintiffs never pleaded guilty to any crime and were later cleared of any wrongdoing. Additionally, the victims of the Central Park assaults were not killed,” the complaint against Trump states.

By continuing to make false allegations against them, Trump caused “severe emotional distress and damage to their reputation,” the complaint further claims. The men are seeking damages for Trump’s defamatory statements.

Even if Trump wins the presidential election, the suit could, in theory, continue to move forward. Although precedent prevents presidents from being held liable for criminal charges brought against them while in office, a 1997 Supreme Court ruling held that sitting presidents could be subject to civil suits while in office. the White House.