Five men who were wrongfully convicted as teenagers in the so-called Central Park Five jogger rape case sued Donald Trump on Monday, saying the Republican presidential nominee defamed them by falsely claiming they killed someone and pleaded guilty.
The lawsuit, filed in federal court in Philadelphia, cites several statements Trump made about the men during his Sept. 10 debate with Democratic nominee Kamala Harris, after she blasted Trump for taking out an ad in 1989 calling for the then-teen defendants to be executed.
"Defendant Trump falsely stated [at the debate] that Plaintiffs killed an individual and pled guilty to the crime.
"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," the complaint said.
The plaintiffs in the case, who now refer to themselves as the Exonerated Five, are Yusef Salaam, Raymond Santana, Kevin Richardson, Antron Brown and Korey Wise.
Their suit, which alleges claims of defamation, false light and intentional infliction of emotional distress, requests damages of more than $75,000, with total compensatory and punitive damages to be determined at trial. »
