President-elect Donald Trump requested Wednesday that a federal court drop a defamation lawsuit against him tied to the Central Park Five allegations.
Trump’s attorneys say his remarks about the Central Park Five—five wrongly convicted men of Black and Hispanic descent— are protected as free speech, according to Reuters. The five men, Yusef Salaam, Raymond Santana, Kevin Richardson, Antron Brown, and Korey Wise, were exonerated in 2002 after DNA evidence and a confession from another suspect absolved them of the crime.
Despite this, Trump’s remarks suggested otherwise, which the lawsuit says painted the men in a damaging light and caused severe emotional distress, Reuters reported. Trump’s attorneys, citing the First Amendment, contend that the remarks were a protected expression of opinion on a matter of public concern.
The five men sued Trump in October for defamation…
