News

(PHILADELPHIA) — Members of the “Central Park Five” filed a defamation suit against former President Donald Trump on Monday, accusing him of spreading “false, misleading and defamatory” statements about their 1989 case during the Sept. 10 ABC News presidential debate, according to a new court filing.

Attorneys representing the five men — Yusef Salaam, Raymond Santana, Kevin Richardson, Antron Brown and Korey Wise — filed their civil suit against Trump in federal court in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, seeking monetary damages over his statements, which they say have caused them “severe emotional distress and reputational damage.”

The five men, then teenagers, were accused of the violent rape of a female jogger in Central Park in April 1989. The five, who always maintained their innocence, were convicted and served years in prison. A decade after the attack, a different man confessed to the crime, which was confirmed through DNA analysis.

During the debate, Trump was responding to a statement from Vice President Kamala Harris in which she revisited his full-page ad in The New York Times in the wake of the incident that called for the execution of the Central Park Five when he said the following: “[T]hey come up with things like what she just said going back many, many years when a lot of people including Mayor [Michael] Bloomberg agreed with me on the Central Park Five. They admitted — they said, they pled guilty. 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.”

The lawsuit points out that Trump’s statements were false in multiple respects — noting none of the members of the Central Park Five ever entered guilty pleas in the case, none of the victims of the Central Park assaults were killed, and the mayor at the time of the assaults was Ed Koch — who did not agree with Trump’s position in the full-page ad.

“Defendant Trump’s conduct at the September 10 debate was extreme and outrageous, and it was intended to cause severe emotional distress to Plaintiffs,” the lawsuit stated.

Trump’s attorneys have not yet entered an appearance on the court docket as of Monday morning. 

“This is just another frivolous, Election Interference lawsuit, filed by desperate left-wing activists,” a Trump campaign spokesperson said in response to an inquiry about the lawsuit.

According to the court filing, one of the Central Park Five members, Salaam, was actually present at the debate and sought to confront Trump over his statements in the spin room afterward.

Salaam says he repeatedly shouted questions to Trump, saying, “Will you apologize to the Exonerated Five?” and, “Sir, what do you say to a member of the Central Park Five, sir?”

Trump reportedly responded to him at one point, “Ah, you’re on my side then,” to which Salaam responded, “No, no, no, I’m not on your side.”

“Plaintiff Salaam was attempting to politely dialogue with Defendant Trump about the false and defamatory statements that Defendant Trump had made about Plaintiffs less than an hour earlier, but Defendant Trump refused to engage with him in dialogue,” the lawsuit stated.

The five men’s convictions were vacated in 2002 and Wise, who was still in prison at the time, was released early. The group sued New York City in 2003 and after a decadelong standstill, the lawsuit was settled for $41 million. The city did not admit to any misconduct by its police department or prosecutors.

Salaam was elected to the New York City Council last year, representing northern Manhattan, including Harlem, East Harlem, parts of the Upper West Side and Morningside Heights.

Copyright © 2024, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

(ASHEVILLE, N.C.) — Twenty-six people remain unaccounted for in hard-hit North Carolina, weeks after the devastation unleashed by Hurricane Helene, officials said Monday.

Last week, 92 people were unaccounted for, officials said.

Hurricane Helene made landfall in Florida on Sept. 26, wreaking havoc across the Southeast from Florida to Virginia. Helene destroyed homes and roads, stranded residents without cellphone service and water, and claimed the lives of nearly 250 people throughout the Southeast.

At least 95 of Helene’s fatalities were in North Carolina, officials said. Gov. Roy Cooper called Helene “the deadliest and most devastating storm” in the state’s history.

After misinformation spread about recovery efforts and the availability of Federal Emergency Management Agency funds in North Carolina, Cooper stressed at Monday’s news conference that the “deliberate disinformation and misinformation … needs to stop.”

“It hurts the very people we are all trying to help,” he said. “It discourages and makes people fearful of signing up for help. It enables scam artists and it hurts the morale of government officials, first responders and soldiers who are on the ground trying to help.”

Former President Donald Trump is set to visit to the hard-hit city of Asheville on Monday to survey damage from the storm.

Cooper said he’s asking the former president to “not share lies or misinformation while he is here.”

Cooper said the White House “responded quickly and positively to our request from FEMA, which has had 1,400 staff on the ground and has registered 206,000 people for individual assistance, and distributed $124 million directly to people who need it.”

“As for long-term recovery, state and local government will be all in, along with the federal government,” Cooper said. “This will take billions of dollars and years of bipartisan focus from everyone working together to make it happen — from new roads and bridges to public building to water supplies to people’s homes.”

FEMA is now launching a “new initiative” to hire community liaisons in North Carolina’s impacted counties, FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell announced Monday.

“We know that so many people have temporarily lost their jobs. We know that others just want to be able to give back, and we want to help keep people in these communities while they recover,” she said. “So these new community liaisons are going to work alongside us at FEMA to make sure that they are the local voice, the trusted voice in their community, and that they can share with us the local considerations and the concerns, so we can include them as part of this recovery. They’re going to be embedded in every county, working directly with county administrators, mayors and community leaders, bridging their concerns with our FEMA staff. And these jobs are available for people to apply right now.”

Copyright © 2024, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

(HOUSTON) — Four people, including a child, were killed when a helicopter crashed into a radio tower in Houston, officials said.

The crash happened just before 8 p.m. Sunday when a private aircraft struck a radio tower in Houston’s Second Ward, Houston police said.

All four people on the helicopter were killed. No one on the ground was injured, officials said.

No homes or structures were impacted except for the radio tower, police said, but a fire that erupted from the crash spanned two to three blocks.

Houston Fire Department officials extinguished the fire after the crash.

The crash is being investigated by Houston authorities, the National Transportation Safety Board and the Federal Aviation Administration.

The helicopter was operating as an air tour flight, according to the National Transportation Safety Board.

The cause of the accident remains under investigation.

 

Copyright © 2024, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

(SAPELO ISLAND, G.A.) — The “catastrophic failure” of an aluminum ferry gangway caused the deaths Saturday of seven people who were attending an annual cultural event on historic Sapelo Island off the coast of Georgia, officials said Sunday.

Three other people were critically injured and remained hospitalized Sunday afternoon, Commissioner Walter Rabon of the Georgia Department of Natural Resouces said during a news conference.

Among those killed was 77-year-old Charles Houston of Darien, Georgia, the chaplain for both the DNR and the Georgia State Patrol, Rabon said.

Rabon said the aluminum gangway, which was installed at the Marsh Landing Dock on Sapelo Island in November 2021, gave way in the middle under the weight of people boarding the ferry to leave the island.

“One end of the gangway was in the water. One end of the gangway on the landward side was still attached,” Rabon said, adding that the gangway was supported by two standing platforms, and that at the time of the incident, the ferry Annemarie was moored to a stationary dock next to one of the platforms.

In addition to Houston, those who perished were identified Sunday by McIntosh County Coroner Melvin Amerson as Jacqueline Crews Carter, 75; Cynthia Gibbs, 74; Carlotta McIntosh, 93; and Isaiah Thomas, 79. They were all from Jacksonville, Georgia. Also killed, according to Amerson, were William Johnson, Jr., 73, and Queen Welch, 76, both of Atlanta.

Rabon said it remains under investigation how many people were on the gangway when it collapsed. He said at least 20 people ended up in the water and another 20, including DNR staff and good Samaritans, jumped in to try to save people.

“Their quick response and action saved additional lives yesterday afternoon,” Rabon said.

Rabon said that while the gangway was routinely inspected, “I can’t say that we get up under it and inspect it daily.”

“The initial findings of our investigation at this point show the catastrophic failure of the gangway causing it to collapse,” Rabon said.

In a statement Sunday, the Georgia Department of Natural Resources confirmed that the gangway was inspected less than a year ago, in December 2023, by Crescent Equipment Company.

On Saturday, the number of visitors to the island swelled to more than 700 from a normal daily average of less than 100, Rabon said. He said the Gullah Geechee people, descendants of enslaved Africans who were brought to the southeastern United States, were holding an annual cultural day on the Island on Saturday when tragedy struck.

Rabon said a second ferry and additional runs were added on Saturday to accommodate the large crowd.

When asked by reporters if the extra stress from the added ferry runs could have been a factor in the collapse, Rabon said, “At this time, I would not rule out anything as being a possibility.”

As part of the investigation, officials were reviewing the maintenance records of the gangway, he said.

“What I can say is that it is a structure failure. There should be very, very little maintenance to an aluminum gangway like that, but we’ll see what the investigation unfolds,” Rabon said.

During Sunday’s news conference, J.R. Grovner, a Sapelo Island resident and tour guide, spoke up, claiming that four months ago he complained to one of the ferry captains about the condition of the gangway.

“I brought it up to one of the ferry captains that the gangway wasn’t stable. I brought up concerns about the railing on the boat, that the railing is not locking properly down in the slot,” Grovner said, adding that he also complained to the U.S. Coast Guard about ferries being over capacity.

Rabon said, “At this time, I’m not aware of any complaints.”

Authorities received the first 911 call about the gangway collapse at the visitor’s landing dock at about 3:50 p.m., officials said. The incident sparked a large emergency response that included local authorities, the Georgia State Patrol, the U.S. Coast Guard, and sheriff’s deputies from McIntosh County and neighboring Camden County, as well as the McIntosh County Fire Department.

Emergency crews used boats equipped with sonar and helicopters to attempt to find and rescue people who fell into the water.

Everyone who went into the water has been accounted for, Rabon said Sunday.

An engineering and construction team was expected to help in the investigation.

The White House released a statement late Saturday from President Joe Biden.

“We are heartbroken to learn about the ferry dock walkway collapse on Georgia’s Sapelo Island,” Biden said in the statement. “What should have been a joyous celebration of Gullah-Geechee culture and history instead turned into tragedy and devastation. Jill and I mourn those who lost their lives, and we pray for the injured and anyone still missing. We are also grateful to the first responders at the scene. My team is in touch with state and local officials, and we stand ready to provide any assistance that would be helpful to the community.”

Vice President Kamala Harris is also “praying for all those who were killed or injured in the collapse of the ferry dock walkway on Georgia’s Sapelo Island,” she said in a statement Saturday.

“Our administration is in close touch with state and local officials, and we have offered any federal support the community might need. As always, we are deeply grateful for the heroism of our first responders,” Harris said in the statement.

She added that in the face of this tragedy, they will “continue to celebrate and honor the history, culture and resilience of the Gullah Geechee.”

In a statement posted on X, Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp said he was heartbroken by the tragedy and asked for prayers.

Sapelo Island is located about 70 miles south of Savannah, Georgia.

The Georgia Department of National Resources manages Sapelo Island, which is home to a research reserve and the Hog Hammock community, a small enclave made up of a few dozen full-time residents who are the descendants of enslaved African Americans.

The Gullah Geechee people are descendants of enslaved Africans who were brought to the southeastern U.S., primarily in coastal areas and who, because of their relative isolation, preserved many of their indigenous African traditions, according to the National Park Service.

Husband and wife Beverly and Irvin Jones told ABC News they were among those on the gangway when it collapsed. Irvin Jones said he felt the gangway slipping and made a split decision to jump onto the floating dock.

“We got almost to the boat and I felt it start to slide, like going backward,” Irvin Jones said. “So, I leaped and jumped. The two girls behind me, they fell in. The whole ramp fell in and collapsed.”

Irvin Jones added, “It happened so fast, people couldn’t react. It was sad. It was so sad. It was horrible. Not even 8 feet from me, I see one guy already drowned. One lady just jumped in to try to save a baby.”

Beverly Jones said she saw people in the water trying to hold on to their children.

“It was just horrific,” Beverly Jones said. “They were trying to hold on. There was nothing to hold on to.”

ABC News’ Laryssa Demkiw, Michelle Stoddart and Faith Abubéy contributed to this report.

Copyright © 2024, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

(HOUSTON) — A helicopter that crashed into a radio tower in Houston, Texas, Sunday left four people killed, including a child, officials said.

The crash happened at approximately 7:54 p.m. local time, when a private aircraft struck a radio tower in Houston’s Second Ward, Houston police said in a press conference Sunday night.

All four of the individuals killed were aboard the helicopter and no one on the ground was injured in the crash, officials said.

No residences and structures were impacted except for the radio tower, police said, but noted the fire that erupted from the crash spanned two to three blocks.

The location of the crash was cited as the intersection of Engelke Street and N. Ennis Street, just five minutes away from Minute Maid Park, home of the Houston Astros.

Houston Fire Department officials extinguished the fire after the crash.

The crash is being investigated by Houston authorities, the National Transportation Safety Board and the Federal Aviation Administration.

 

Copyright © 2024, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

(NEW YORK) — Rick Singer, the man convicted of orchestrating the so-called “Varsity Blues” college admissions scandal, has continued to advise prospective undergraduates on their college applications while serving his sentence in federal prison in Florida, and now from a California halfway house.

Singer, 64, a one-time college admissions consultant who pleaded guilty in 2019 to facilitating bribes between wealthy parents and elite universities in exchange for their children’s enrollment, told ABC News that he began to counsel students — pro bono — after he was sentenced last year.

Then, this past admissions season, while he was at a federal prison camp in Pensacola, Florida, Singer said, “The coolest thing ever happened.”

“I had a young man send me an email saying, ‘Could you help me with my applications and tell me if I could get into these schools?'” Singer told ABC News during a sit-down interview.

The applicant sent Singer his high school transcript and a list of his credentials. Singer, whose advice was once sought by higher-powered executives and Hollywood actors, wrote back, offering a few pointers. The student was accepted to his top school in March, Singer said. 

This summer, Singer launched a new venture called ID Future Stars, a consulting business that boasts an 80% to 96% acceptance rate into first-choice schools. According to the site, “Our success speaks for itself.”

But his return to the college admissions world could be a challenge. Singer’s reputation unraveled after he pleaded guilty to racketeering conspiracy, money laundering and obstruction of justice charges in the decades-long scheme that federal investigators dubbed “Operation Varsity Blues.” 

Federal prosecutors in Boston said Singer facilitated $25 million changing hands from families to college administrators and athletic coaches, who would dole out spots on their rosters to fulfill their fundraising goals. Singer transferred, spent or otherwise used more than $15 million for his own benefit, they said.

“Everything that the U.S. attorney said, and the FBI said, and everybody else said that I did do, I did it,” Singer told ABC.

Yet even four years later, Singer said the conspiracy amounted to a “victimless crime.” 

News of the admissions scandal broke in 2019, when Andrew Lelling, the U.S. Attorney for the District of Massachusetts, announced the charges against Singer and over 50 others, including college coaches, testing administrators and actors Lori Loughlin and Felicity Huffman.

The charges led to about 50 convictions and became the subject of at least four books, a Lifetime movie and a Netflix documentary.

In January 2023, a judge sentenced Singer to 42 months in federal prison. This August, he was released to a halfway house near Los Angeles.

For years, Singer said, he had operated a lucrative and legitimate college consulting business. But that changed around 2011, when he realized he could not push some clients through what he called the “front door.” He had become close with the students and their families, and wanted to do whatever he could to help them, so he developed a new admissions scheme: the “side door.”

While Singer said that a majority of his consulting has always been legitimate, he explained that the new scheme began with one student and soon expanded. 

“There was a young man who was super talented, worked his tail off,” Singer said. But the student would always perform poorly on practice SAT or ACT exams.

So he found a way to get the student’s application to the top of the pile: He began to bribe standardized testing proctors to turn a blind eye to permit cheating on the exams, prosecutors said.  

I knew “it was wrong, and I did it anyways,” Singer said. “What’s 10, 12, 13 kids who are good students, quality people, and this one score may screw them out of an opportunity to go to a decent school? I rationalized that to myself.”

Soon after, the stakes grew. Singer was well-known in the world of higher education, and he said presidents of several prestigious universities had contacted him, hoping his clients would donate millions of dollars to their schools.

He said that he began to set up meetings between the presidents and parents to discuss their children enrolling in the university. “The negotiations would go from whether the school was a good fit for the student to, ‘What does the president need? What does the family need? Would there be a chit involved?'” he said, referring to a monetary favor. 

Singer, a former basketball coach, said he was sympathetic to coaches and the pressure they faced to fundraise ahead of their sports seasons. So he said that he began to set up similar meetings between them and his clients. At times, he faked the students’ athletic credentials to push their applications through.

“First I went to three, four coaches. Then the word got out to all the coaches, and coaches started calling me every year,” Singer said.

“If they needed to raise $250,000 or $500,000 for the program, they would call me and say, ‘Hey, I have a spot. Do you have a family that would like to come here?'” he said.

When asked if he thought his scheme may have prevented legitimate recruits from earning their way on a collegiate team, Singer said: “All I’m doing is being the facilitator and providing the coach this choice.”

On March 12, 2019, the day he was charged, Singer said he left John Joseph Moakley Courthouse in Boston and looked down at his phone.

He said he had received 93 text messages in less than an hour. Most, Singer said, were from clients looking for above-board advice and wondering whether he would still be able to meet with them for a consultation. 

Copyright © 2024, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.