A group of men, formerly known as the Central Park Five, filed a defamation lawsuit against Donald Trump, accusing him of making false statements about them during a presidential debate. The men seek to clear their names and are asking for compensatory and punitive damages. Trump’s spokesperson dismissed the suit as a distraction from Kamala Harris’s campaign.
The Central Park Five were wrongly convicted of a 1989 crime and had their convictions vacated in 2002. Trump, at the time, called for the death penalty for the teens in a controversial ad. The case marked Trump’s entry into tough-on-crime politics. In the recent debate, Trump misstated key facts of the case.
Since their exoneration, the group has supported Kamala Harris and campaigned against Trump. They have also joined civil rights leader Al Sharpton on a bus tour to promote voter turnout. Previous defamation suits against Trump have resulted in significant judgments awarded to the plaintiffs.
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