Central Park 5 Sue Trump for Defamatory Debate Comments

Men wrongfully convicted of assaulting Central Park joggers in 1989 sued former U.S. President Donald Trump on Monday for recent remarks he made during a debate as the Republican nominee for the November election.

While debating Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris in Philadelphia last month, Trump "made several statements concerning the 'Central Park Five'... now also known as the Exonerated Five," states the defamation lawsuit.

The men—Yusef Salaam, Raymond Santana, Kevin Richardson, Antron Brown, and Korey Wise—were ages 14 to 16 at the time of the case. After all serving time behind bars, they were finally exonerated in 2002.

During the only Trump-Harris debate of this cycle, the Democrat cited various examples of Trump's troubling history of racism. She said: "Let's remember, 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, the Central Park Five. Took out a full-page ad calling for their execution."

Trump said in September that "a lot of people... agreed with me on the Central Park Five," adding: "They admitted—they said, they pled guilty. And I said, well, if they pled guilty they badly hurt a person, killed a person ultimately. And if they pled guilty—then they pled, we're not guilty."

The new suit says that "these statements are demonstrably false. Plaintiffs never pled guilty to any crime and were subsequently cleared of all wrongdoing. Further, the victims of the Central Park assaults were not killed."

"While in police custody, plaintiffs were each separately subjected to hours of coercive interrogation, under duress, with no attorney present and often without a parent or guardian present," the filing explains. "Plaintiffs all initially denied having any knowledge of the Central Park assaults. However, after hours of interrogation, four of the Plaintiffs agreed to provide written and videotaped statements in which they falsely admitted to having been present during the assaults."

Salaam, a Democrat on the New York City Council, "attended the September 10 debate in person and was in the room when defendant Trump made his false and defamatory statements," the suit notes. In the post-debate "spin room," Salaam tried to "politely dialogue" with the ex-president, who "refused to engage."

The document emphasizes that "defendant Trump's conduct at the September 10 debate was part of a continuing pattern of extreme and outrageous conduct toward plaintiffs stretching back decades."

As CNNreported Monday:

Trump has continued to be critical of the case as he's moved into politics in recent years. In October 2016, then-candidate Trump stood by his actions during the time of the case, telling CNN, "They admitted they were guilty."

And in 2014, Trump wrote in an op-ed in the New York Daily News that New York City's $41 million settlement with the five men was "a disgrace."

According to the suit, filed in federal court in Pennsylvania, the men are asking for "compensatory and punitive damages in an amount to be determined at trial, along with pre- and post-judgment interest, costs, and such other relief as the court deems just and proper."

Trump was previously found to have defamed journalist E. Jean Carroll regarding rape allegations she made against him and convicted of 34 felony charges related to hush money payments to cover up sex scandals during the 2016 presidential election. The former president also faces ongoing state and federal cases for his attempt to overturn his 2020 loss.