Central Park Five Sue Trump For Defamation

HARLEM, NY – New York City Council Member Yusef Salaam and the rest of the “Central Park Five” are suing former President Donald Trump for defamation, CNN reported on Monday.

Salaam represents District 9 – Harlem – on New York's City Council.

The suit alleges that Trump made false and defamatory statements during the September 2024 presidential debate, falsely accusing the group of pleading guilty to a murder that they did not commit and which did not happen, among other false and damaging claims.

The debate was viewed live by over 67 million people in the United States.

‘Extreme And Outrageous’

The new lawsuit, which was filed on Oct. 21, in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, accuses Trump of engaging in a "continuing pattern of extreme and outrageous conduct" toward the Central Park Five, beginning with a 1989 full-page ad Trump placed in four New York City newspapers calling for the reinstatement of the death penalty.

The ad, though not explicitly naming the Central Park Five, referred to the assaults, demanding, "BRING BACK THE DEATH PENALTY AND BRING BACK OUR POLICE!"

The suit seeks compensatory and punitive damages for the harm caused by Trump's statements at the September debate, stating, "Defendant Trump’s false and insulting statements about Plaintiffs were defamation per se."

The plaintiffs, now advocates and public figures, claim Trump’s statements caused them "reputational damage" and "emotional pain and suffering," and the suit accuses Trump of intentional infliction of emotional distress, citing his "reckless or willful disregard for [his statements] injurious effects on Plaintiffs."

They request a jury trial.

The Story

The Central Park Five, who today prefer to be known as the Exonerated Five, were originally convicted as teenagers for a series of violent attacks in Central Park, namely the brutal rape of jogger Trisha Meili on April 19, 1989.

Although Meili was grievously injured in the attack, she survived, and is alive today.

The lawsuit contends that the Central Park Five were pressured into making false statements after "hours of coercive interrogation, under duress, with no attorney present and often without a parent or guardian present."

They were eventually tried, convicted, and incarcerated, but maintained their innocence throughout, according to the suit.

In 2002, after the confession of serial rapist and murderer, Matias Reyes – and DNA evidence confirming Reyes’s involvement in the Meili rape – the Central Park Five were exonerated and their convictions vacated.

The Manhattan District Attorney’s Office later acknowledged that the prosecution's case "rested almost entirely on the statements made by the defendants," which were "contradictory, unreliable and inconsistent with each other and with the objective evidence of the assaults," according to the suit.

Furthermore, "there was no forensic evidence that linked these five youths to this offense," the suit states.

‘I So Wish That Case Hadn’t Been Settled’

Nevertheless, in a major interview with ABC News in 2019, Meili, who at the time reportedly worked with survivors of sexual assault, brain injuries, and other trauma, expressed reservations.

"I so wish the case hadn't been settled," Meili told 20/20, referring to the 2014 settlement.

"I wish that it had gone to court because there's a lot of information that's now being released that I'm seeing for the first time,” she said.

Some officials – including police and prosecutors – agreed, and a few experts involved in the case reportedly said there was medical evidence that supports the theory that individuals aside from Reyes were involved in the incident.

'The More You Think About It...'

Immediately following the debate, Patch wrote about whether or not Trump’s comments were defamatory. A legal expert, who asked to remain anonymous given the sensitive nature of the subject, said at the time that a suit would “[hinge] on whether they could actually prove that there’s clear and convincing evidence that Trump was reckless…If Trump was reckless, then it’s defamation, and the more you think about it, the more you think a jury could find that it was reckless.”

A copy of the lawsuit is available here.