Trump’s excessive wrongness back in 1989, like the many women he has abused, circled back on him again, this time in a lawsuit filed by five Black men — now recognized as the Exonerated Five. They claim that Trump defamed them during his debate last month when he falsely said the men pled guilty after being tried in connection with an alleged assault and rape of Trisha Meili, a white woman jogger in Central Park.
Getting the facts right has never been Trump’s forte, and during the debate he said the five had admitted “they pled guilty,” Trump said. “They said, they pled guilty. And I said, well, they pled guilty, they badly hurt the person, and ultimately killed the person. And they pled guilty — then they pled ‘we’re not guilty.’”
A complaint filed on behalf of the five said Trump’s statements are demonstrably false, adding: “[The] Plaintiffs never pled guilty to any crime and were subsequently cleared of all wrongdoing. Further the victims of the Central Park assaults were not killed.” The complaint further said that the men, now in their 50s, have “suffered injuries as a result of Defendant Trump’s false and defamatory statements.”
Trump gained the national attention he sought in the ads he took out in major daily newspapers calling for the death penalty for Kevin Richardson, Antron McCray, Raymond Santana, Korey Wise, and Yusef Salaam, with these five innocent men all having served long prison sentences. Eventually a serial rapist, Matias Reyes, who actually assaulted Meili, confessed that he was the sole actor. DNA evidence confirmed this.
Media coverage of the incident resonated across the globe and the five were eventually released from prison and subsequently sued the City of New York for malicious prosecution, racial discrimination, and emotional distress. The City settled the suit in 2014 for $41 million.
We have no idea if Trump will have to fork over some cash for his rash insinuations and accusations, and we cheer that another pin has been stuck in his highly inflated ego and perhaps even his purse.