Nov. 2 (UPI) — Former President Donald Trump has reached a settlement with five protesters who claimed his security team assaulted them during a 2015 demonstration outside of New York’s Trump Tower, according to attorneys for both sides.
The settlement was announced Wednesday, on the third day of jury selection for the trial. The attorneys did not disclose any details about the settlement.
The lawsuit stems from an incident during a demonstration outside of Trump Tower in Manhattan following comments made by Trump, after he announced his candidacy for president in the 2016 election.
During the speech, Trump claimed Mexico had been sending people to the United States who are “bringing drugs. Bringing crime. They’re rapists,” he said.
Photos and video of the protest showed Trump’s head of security, Keith Schiller, hitting plaintiff Efrain Galicia in the face after Galicia appeared to reach for a blue sign with the words “Trump: Make America Racist Again.”
The lawsuit, filed by Galicia, Florencia Tejeda Perez, Gonzalo Cruz Franco, Johnny Garcia and Miguel Villalabos, charged Trump and his security detail with assault and battery, while seeking unspecified monetary damages.
The lawsuit was delayed for years while Trump was president. Last fall, Trump sat for a four-and-a-half hour videotaped deposition.
In a joint statement Wednesday, provided by an attorney for the protesters, Benjamin Dictor, and signed by the plaintiffs and Trump’s attorney, Alina Habba, the parties agreed to settle the case and dismiss it.
“The parties all agree that the plaintiffs in the action, and all people, have a right to engage in a peaceful protest on public sidewalks,” the statement said.
The attorney for the protestors called it “an incredible day for our clients, who are lifelong activists in the community… who stood up to defend the right to speech on the public sidewalk and have litigated for seven years,” Dictor said.
“And today, the matter was resolved on terms that they are very, very happy with.”
In a separate statement, attorneys for Trump called it “an amicable resolution.”
“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,” Habba said. “We are very pleased with this outcome and are happy to finally put this matter to rest once and for all.”
