- Protesters had sued Trump over a 2015 rally at Trump Tower.
- Lawyers for both parties announced a settlement in a joint statement Wednesday.
Protesters who had sued former President Donald Trump and alleged his security team attacked them at Trump Tower in 2015 have reached a settlement in the case.
Neither side would say if money crossed hands. But the protesters and their lawyers appeared to be in a celebratory mood on the steps of state Supreme Court in the Bronx after the deal was struck on Wednesday, shaking each other's hands, taking cell phone photographs of each other, and exchanging big smiles.
"The matter has been resolved to satisfaction of all parties," said Ben Dictor, one lawyer for plaintiffs in the case.
"The parties all agree that the plaintiffs in the action and all parties have a right to engage in a peaceful protest on public sidewalks," a joint statement from both parties' lawyers said.
Dictor said the main goal of his clients has always been for it to be acknowledged that they were within their rights to protest.
"The sidewalk belongs to the people," he said, leaving the courthouse with his clients.
Dictor would not say whether a monetary settlement was reached.
On the third day of jury selection, attorneys met in closed-door meetings for most of the morning while no progress in filling the 12-person jury took place.
When reporters asked Trump lawyer Alina Habba what was happening, she declined to say.
Jurors were then dismissed for lunch. A settlement was reached in the meantime.
"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 in a written statement later Wednesday.
"We are very pleased with this outcome and are happy to finally put this matter to rest once and for all."
Dictor issued a written statement in response Habba's.
"The lawyer doth protest too much," he said.
"Defendants were staring down the barrel of a Bronx jury who were about to be presented with overwhelming evidence in support of plaintiffs' claims.
"Nevertheless, plaintiffs are proud to have settled their claims and 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."
The 2015 protest
The case centered around a September 2015 "Make America Racist Again" protest outside of Trump Tower.
At the demonstration, protesters wore Klu Klux Klan costumes and carried signs responding to Trump's comments on the presidential campaign trail that Mexican immigrants are "rapists and drug mules," attorney Nathaniel Charney, who represents the plaintiffs, said during jury selection.
"The plaintiffs' claims, in this case, arise from what occurred on the sidewalk that day," Charney said.
Defendants named in the suit included Trump himself, his company, the Trump Organization, his campaign, his former head of security, and security guards.
The trial was going to determine whether Trump and his security team were guilty of assault and battery and conversion —a civil charge for larceny — for taking signs from protesters.
The plaintiffs accused Trump of siccing his private security team on them during the protest.
While he wasn't expected to testify, Trump, in a recorded 2021 deposition, said his life was threatened by flying fruit that day.
"It's very dangerous stuff," Trump said in the deposition that will now remain sealed, speaking of a fruit basket full of possibilities. "You can get killed with those things."