### Central Park Five Sue Donald Trump for Defamation Over Debate Comments

In a new legal twist, the five men known as the Central Park Five have initiated a defamation lawsuit against Donald Trump. The lawsuit, filed on Monday, accuses Trump of spreading falsehoods during a recent presidential debate by asserting that they had confessed to a brutal rape incident from 35 years ago. This claim comes despite the fact that their convictions were overturned.

The legal representatives for the men argue that Trump demonstrated a "reckless disregard" for the truth and inflicted "severe emotional distress" by suggesting during the September 10 debate that the men had murdered someone and confessed their guilt. This incident occurred during a discussion on race relations in which Kamala Harris mentioned Trump’s past actions, including taking out a full-page advertisement in the New York Times in 1989 calling for the death penalty amidst the uproar over the case.

Trump’s response during the debate falsely claimed that the men had pleaded guilty and were responsible for injurious and fatal actions. In reality, Yusef Salaam, Raymond Santana, Kevin Richardson, Antron Brown, and Korey Wise, who were between 14 and 16 years old at the time, all pleaded not guilty and always denied involvement in the crime. They were convicted and incarcerated, but in 2002, their exoneration came after Matias Reyes, a convicted serial rapist and murderer, confessed to the crime, with DNA evidence supporting his confession. The five men later received a settlement of $41 million in a civil suit.

The lawsuit asserts that Trump's statements were specifically designed to cause emotional harm to the plaintiffs and pointed out several inaccuracies in his claims, including the fact that no one was killed in the attack. Additionally, it was highlighted that Ed Koch, not Michael Bloomberg, was New York's mayor at the time of the incident, and Koch did not support Trump’s controversial newspaper ad.

One of the men, Yousef Salaam, now serving as a New York City Council member, was present at the debate and directly asked Trump for an apology, only for Trump to inquire if Salaam supported him. Salaam's rejection of Trump's side is detailed in the lawsuit.

Trump has a history of insisting on the men’s guilt, even after their exoneration. He labeled the $41 million settlement they received as "the heist of the century" in a 2014 article and continued to maintain their supposed admissions of guilt while serving as president in 2019.

Trump’s campaign has dismissed the lawsuit as "frivolous" and an example of "election interference," according to recent reports.