In 1989 five teenagers from America were wrongly imprisoned for rape – they became known as the “Central Park Five”. Now they are suing Donald Trump for defamation during a televised debate in September.
They’ve sat innocently in jail for years — and now they’re suing Donald Trump: Five of the so-called “Central Park Five” have filed a lawsuit alleging the presidential candidate defamed them during a televised debate with his opponent. Kamala Harris. His lawyer said Trump is still clinging to the hate campaign he started against men 35 years ago.
During his television appearance, Trump falsely claimed that the five had confessed to the crime and killed the victim. “None of this is true,” their lawyer Shanin Spector told US broadcaster NBC News.
Innocent for many years in prison
In 1989, the then-young men — four black and one Latino — were sentenced to prison. They were accused of raping a then 28-year-old woman in New York’s Central Park. As a result, four men served seven years in prison, one even 13 years. It wasn’t until 2002 that the “Central Park Five” were proven innocent.
A DNA test and the testimony of another proved her innocent. The men were awarded a total of $41 million in damages. “There is no doubt these men are not guilty,” Spector said.
Trump released the ads 35 years ago
Donald Trump launched a campaign against the men during his conviction 35 years ago: the then-real estate manager took out full-page ads in several newspapers in which he called for the reintroduction of the death penalty in New York. In a TV sparring with Harris this year, he justified this: The men allegedly confessed to the crime and eventually killed someone.
The woman sustained serious injuries but escaped the crime. Five youths were arrested the same night, four of whom confessed. However, the accused later retracted this under police pressure. The defendants also correctly denied the crime in court. However, the sentence was carried out.
According to US media, the suit has been filed in court in Philadelphia, where a televised debate will take place on September 10. A Trump spokesman described the case as another attempt by “desperate left-wing activists” to influence the election through litigation.
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