Donald Trump has reached a settlement with activists of Mexican descent who launched a civil lawsuit over an alleged attack by his security guards, a lawyer for the former US president said.
Several activists brought the lawsuit alleging that Trump’s bodyguards violently broke up a protest they were holding outside Trump Tower in New York in 2015.
They were demonstrating against derogatory comments Trump had made about Mexicans, saying they were bringing drugs and crime to the United States and were “rapists.”
Lawyers for both sides met in recent days as another trial got underway in New York, in which the Trump family business is facing charges of fraud and tax evasion.
“Although we were eager to proceed to trial to demonstrate the frivolousness of this case, the parties were ultimately able to come to an amicable resolution,” Trump’s lawyer, Alina Habba, said of the settlement late Wednesday.
“We are very pleased with this outcome and are happy to finally put this matter to rest once and for all.”
A lawyer for the New York activists, Benjamin Dictor, said his clients were “proud” to have “obtained written recognition by Donald Trump of their right to protest on the public sidewalk.”
“Powerful men may put their names on buildings, but the sidewalk will always belong to the people,” he added in an email.
The plaintiffs had alleged that Trump’s guards ripped away their signs and punched and choked one of the demonstrators during the protest on September 3, 2015.
In October last year, Trump testified for four and a half hours in the case in a videotaped deposition, giving his version of what happened in what he called a “ridiculous story.”
He had previously stated that he feared protesters would pelt him with “very dangerous” fruit like pineapples, tomatoes, and bananas saying: “You can get killed with those things.”
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