Five individuals related to the 'Central Park Five' case file a lawsuit against Trump, alleging defamation, following his debate remarks on the 1989 incident.
The five individuals assert in a 20-page federal lawsuit that Trump acknowledged acting with "negligent disregard" for factual accuracy when he asserted during the September debate with Vice President Kamala Harris that they admitted to crimes associated with assaulting and sexually violating a woman in New York City, and that the five minors "seriously harmed an individual, murdered a person" during the attack.
"Defendant Trump's declarations were baseless and damaging in various ways," lawyers for the men, currently middle-aged, stated in the lawsuit filed in federal court in Philadelphia. "The defendants never confessed to the Central Park assaults. The defendants all pleaded not guilty and upheld their innocence throughout their trial, imprisonment, and post-release period."
"None of the Central Park assault victims perished," the lawyers claimed.
CNN contacted Trump's representatives for comment.
The men are seeking compensatory and punitive damages. The lawsuit also alleges that Trump's statements led to them being portrayed in an unfavorable light and caused them "severe emotional harm."
The group was coerced into providing false confessions in the case. They were cleared in 2002 when DNA evidence implicated another individual in the crime. The teenagers filed a lawsuit against the city, and the case was resolved in 2014.
CNN's Kate Sullivan contributed to this report.
The lawsuit challenges Trump's accusations in politics, as it alleges his statements caused severe emotional harm.The defendants, in relation to the Central Park case, never confessed to any crimes involving murder or murder-related acts in politics.
