(The Center Square) — A lawsuit filed against President Donald Trump by members of the Central Park Five will go to trial after a federal judge rejected a last-ditch motion from the president’s lawyers to dismiss the case.
Trump is accused of making false statements during his 2024 debate with then-Vice President Kamala Harris about the five Black and Latino men who were wrongly convicted of raping a White female jogger in New York City in 1989.
During the Sept. 10 debate, Trump claimed the men pleaded guilty and that the woman died as a result of the attack, but the lawsuit argues his remarks were “demonstrably false” because they never pleaded guilty and the victim survived.
In her ruling, U.S. District Court Judge Wendy Beelestone allowed the case to continue, rejecting arguments by the president’s legal team that his comments didn’t amount to defamation. She said Trump’s statements “can be ‘objectively determined’ to be false, so Defendant’s [Trump’s] statement must be construed as one of fact, not opinion.”
“Because plaintiffs have plausibly alleged actual malice, defendant’s Motion to Dismiss shall be denied as to plaintiffs’ false light claim,” Beekestone wrote in the 20-page ruling.
The ruling did, however, narrow the scope of the lawsuit by dismissing a claim by the plaintiffs that Trump had intended the “infliction of emotional distress” with his remarks during the presidential debate.
Trump’s attorney Karin Sweigart ripped the legal challenge as a “baseless lawsuit” and called it “another unfounded and meritless attack” against the president.
“It exemplifies the very kind of meritless legal action Pennsylvania’s anti-SLAPP law aims to prevent — shielding free speech from politically motivated abuse,” she said in a statement following the ruling. “The court’s dismissal of several claims is a victory. We firmly believe the entire case should have been dismissed and will continue fighting to protect the First Amendment rights of not just the President, but all Americans.”
The plaintiffs, which include New York City Council member Yusef Salaam, allege that Trump’s comments showed a “reckless disregard for their falsity.” They ask the judge for an unspecified amount of damages.
The Central Park Five were exonerated and had their convictions overturned in 2002 after DNA evidence was matched to a different man who later confessed to the assault. The men previously were awarded a court settlement of $41 million after filing a civil rights lawsuit over their wrongful arrests and imprisonment.
During a recent hearing on the defamation lawsuit, Trump’s attorneys argued that the president’s comments were protected under Pennsylvania laws that grant civil immunity over statements made on a “matter of public concern” and that the legal challenge should be tossed out.
