The five Black and Hispanic teenagers who were wrongfully convicted for the 1989 rape of a white jogger in New York’s Central Park have sued Donald Trump for defamation over statements he made at last month’s US presidential debate.
Background: Known widely as the Central Park Five, the defendants spent between five and 13 years in prison before they were cleared in 2002 based on new DNA evidence and the confession of another person.
Trump, the Republican nominee for the White House, falsely said at the 10 September debate with Democrat Kamala Harris that the Central Park Five had killed a person and pleaded guilty.
The lawsuit by Yusef Salaam, Raymond Santana, Kevin Richardson, Antron Brown and Korey Wise called Trump’s statements “demonstrably false.”
Key quote: “Trump’s conduct at the September 10 debate was extreme and outrageous, and it was intended to cause severe emotional distress” — the lawsuit against Trump on behalf of the Central Park Five stated.
What else to know: Trump has drawn much criticism in the past over his statements about the Central Park Five. After the jogger’s assault, he spoke out about the case and took out a full-page ad in several New York newspapers calling for the reinstatement of the death penalty.
What happens next: The plaintiffs are seeking unspecified monetary damages for reputational and emotional harms as well as punitive damages.
