President Donald Trump encountered a setback when a federal judge ruled that a defamation lawsuit against him by the "Central Park Five" can continue. The case centers on comments Trump made in a 2024 debate suggesting the men had pleaded guilty to a brutal crime that they were later exonerated of, igniting renewed conversation about a long-contested chapter in New York City's history, as CBS News reported.
The men, who were teenagers at the time of the infamous Central Park jogger case, maintain that Trump defamed them by claiming they had admitted guilt over an assault in which the victim did not die, contrary to the president's assertions. Pennsylvania U.S. District Court Judge Wendy Beetlestone dismissed claims that the president's statements could be protected under Pennsylvania's anti-SLAPP law, which is meant to shield free speech from frivolous lawsuits. Trump’s attorney, Karin Sweigart, called the lawsuit baseless and described it as another unfounded attack against the former president. She also expressed confidence in Trump's defense under the First Amendment, according to a statement obtained by Bloomberg.
In the contested statements during the 2024 debate, which was criticized by then-Vice President Kamala Harris for his historic response to the Central Park Five's wrongful conviction, Trump had said about the five men, "This is the most divisive presidency in the history of our country. There's never been anything like it. They're destroying our country. And they come up with things like what she just said going back many, many years when a lot of people including Mayor Bloomberg agreed with me on the Central Park Five. They admitted — they said, they pled guilty. And I said, well, if they pled guilty they badly hurt a person, killed a person ultimately. And if they pled guilty—then they pled we're not guilty. But this is a person that has to stretch back years, 40, 50 years ago because there's nothing now." The plaintiffs — Yusef Salaam, Raymond Santana, Kevin Richardson, Antron Brown, and Korey Wise — assert that this claim was factually incorrect, as they never pleaded guilty, nor did the victim succumb to her injuries, as per CBS News.
Notably, Judge Beetlestone noted that Trump may have acted with "actual malice," a legal standard indicating he may have made false statements knowingly or with reckless disregard for the truth. Shanin Specter, the lead attorney for the men, said they are gratified by the court’s thorough ruling and look forward to discovery, trial, and the ultimate vindication of the five men. The cases were overturned in 2002 after DNA evidence pointed to another perpetrator, and New York City settled with the men for $41 million for their wrongful conviction.
