Judge Denies Trump’s Bid to Dismiss ‘Central Park Five’ Defamation Case

A federal judge on Thursday denied President Donald Trump’s bid to dismiss a defamation lawsuit brought by five black and Hispanic men, who became known as the “Central Park Five” after they were wrongly convicted for a 1989 rape case and later exonerated. U.S. District Judge Wendy Beetlestone ruled that the plaintiffs may proceed with their lawsuit, in which they accused Trump of making false and defamatory statements during his 2024 presidential debate with then-Vice President Kamala Harris. The judge, however, dismissed the plaintiffs’ claim that Trump had intentionally caused them emotional distress, according to the court order. The so-called Central Park Five—Yusef Salaam, Raymond Santana, Kevin Richardson, Antron Brown, and Korey Wise—were teenagers when they were convicted of the 1989 rape and assault of a woman named Trisha Meili while she was jogging in New York City’s Central Park. They spent years in prison before being exonerated in 2002 after the culprit confessed to the crime and DNA evidence confirmed his guilt....