Central Park five sue Trump for defamation over debate comments

A radical of men who were wrongly convicted arsenic the 'Central Park Five' person sued erstwhile president Donald Trump implicit his 'defamatory' comments astir them successful the statesmanlike debate.

The men filed a suit against the Republican nominee connected Monday, saying Trump made 'false and defamatory statements' astir them successful his face-off with Vice President Kamala Harris past month.

They question a assemblage proceedings to find damages successful a lawsuit that turns up the vigor erstwhile again connected a tense campaign, conscionable 2 weeks earlier predetermination day.

'Defendant Trump falsely stated [at the debate] that Plaintiffs killed an idiosyncratic and pled blameworthy to the crime,' says the civilian lawsuit.

'These statements are demonstrably false.'

The suit says the 5 men 'never pled blameworthy to immoderate transgression and were subsequently cleared of each wrongdoing.'

It adds: 'Further, the victims of the Central Park assaults were not killed.'

Trump's run called the suit a 'frivolous' illustration of 'election interference'.

Yusef Salaam, Antron McCray, Kevin Richardson, Raymond Santana and Korey Wise were teenagers erstwhile they were accused of the 1989 rape and beating of a achromatic pistillate jogger successful Central Park, successful New York City.

The five, who are achromatic and Latino, said they confessed to the crimes nether duress.

They aboriginal recanted, pleading not blameworthy successful court, and were aboriginal convicted aft assemblage trials.

Those convictions were vacated successful 2002 based connected recently discovered DNA evidence.

Less than 2 weeks aft a intersexual battle connected a jogger successful the parkland for which the teens were charged, Trump paid for a full-page advertisement calling for the reinstatement of the decease punishment implicit the crimes.

It was 1 of Trump's archetypal anti-crime messages, which evolved into his broader America First populist transportation to voters.

During the debate, Harris raised Trump's grounds with the 5 men, saying helium 'Took retired a full-page advertisement calling for their execution.'

Trump responded, successful a connection that forms the ground of the lawsuit.

'They admitted, they said they pled guilty, and I said, 'well, if they pled blameworthy they severely wounded a person, killed a idiosyncratic yet ... And they pled guilty, past they pled not guilty,' Trump said.

He appeared to confuse the men's confessions with blameworthy pleas. Also, nary unfortunate died.

Trump's comments were 'part of a continuing signifier of utmost and outrageous behaviour dating backmost respective years' against the men, says the suit.

Their suit, which alleges claims of defamation and affectional distress, requests damages of much than $75,000, with full compensatory and punitive damages to beryllium determined astatine trial.

Trump run spokesperson Steven Cheung, successful a connection to CNBC, it was 'just different frivolous, predetermination interference lawsuit.'

The papers were 'filed by hopeless left-wing activists, successful an effort to distract the American radical from Kamala Harris's dangerously wide docket and failing campaign,' Cheung added.

The suit notes that the men were convicted astatine trials of a bid of assaults that occurred successful Central Park successful April 1989.

They were aged betwixt 14 and 16 astatine the time, and spent years down bars aft their convictions.

A twelvemonth aft they were exonerated, the men sued New York City for mendacious arrest, malicious prosecution and racially motivated conspiracy.

The metropolis settled the suit much than a decennary aboriginal by agreeing to wage the men $41 million, a woody that Trump called a 'disgrace.'