
The Exonerated Five have reportedly filed a defamation lawsuit against former President and current Republican nominee for President, Donald Trump.
The lawsuit is tied to a comment Trump made during a debate with Vice President Kamala Harris on September 10, 2024. While pressing Trump about his past comments and actions regarding topics involving race, the incarceration and eventual exoneration of Antron McCray, Kevin Richardson, Yusef Salaam, Raymond Santana and Korey Wise became a point of contention.
“They admitted — they said, they pled guilty,” Trump said in reference to the Exonerated Five.
“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,”
Trump’s connection to the Exonerated Five dates back decades. In 1989, McCray, Richardson, Salaam, Santana, Wise and Steven Lopez were indicted in connection to the assault and rape of Trisha Meili. As the case gained media attention, former President Donald Trump took out a full page ad in New York City’s major newspapers and called for the return of the death penalty to punish those responsible. Despite a lack of evidence, McCray, Richardson, Salaam, Santana and Wise were all tried, convicted and sentenced to length stints in correctional facilities. Meanwhile, Lopez accepted a plea deal for separate incident in exchange for not being tried in connection to the Meili case. In late 2002, the Exonerated Five were released after a man named Matia Reyes confessed to the rape and assault of Meili. Twelve years later, the five men won a $41 million settlement against the City of New York while Lopez was eventually exonerated for a robbery charge connected to his plea deal in 2022.
The lawsuit filed by the Exonerated Five pushes back against Trump’s claim that they pled guilty and says he was “reckless” with his comments on September 10.
“Defendant Trump’s conduct at the September 10 debate was extreme and outrageous,” the complaint reads.
“It was intended to cause severe emotional distress to Plaintiffs.”