“Over 30 years ago, Donald Trump took out full-page ads calling for my execution,” Yusef Salaam tweeted on Tuesday (April 4), per The Hill. “On the day he was arrested and arraigned, here is my ad in response.”
In the ad, which was taken out in the New York Times, Salaam detailed how his life was affected by Trump’s ads and his wrongful conviction as a member of the group formerly known as the Central Park Five.
“Now, after several decades and an unfortunate and disastrous presidency, we all know exactly who Donald J. Trump is — a man who seeks to deny justice and fairness for others, while claiming only innocence for himself,” Salaam wrote.
Amid Salaam’s 1989 conviction, Trump bought a full-page ad in the Times calling for the state to adopt the death penalty over the case.
“I want to hate these murderers and I always will,” Trump wrote in his ad. “I am not looking to psychoanalyze or understand them, I am looking to punish them.”
The former president has never walked back his comments.
Last week, Salaam called the news of Trump’s indictment “karma.”
“Here is my message to you, Mr. Trump,” the Exonerated Five member wrote in his ad. “In response to the multiple federal and state criminal investigations that you are facing, you responded by warning of “potential death and destruction,” and by posting a photograph of yourself with a baseball bat, next to a photo of Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg. These actions, just like your actions leading up to the January 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol, are an attack on our safety.”
“Now that you have been indicted and are facing criminal charges, I do not resort to hatred, bias or racism — as you once did,” Salaam continued. “Even though thirty-four years ago you effectively called for my death and the death of four other innocent children, I wish you no harm.”
“And if the charges are proven and you are found guilty, I hope that you endure whatever penalties are imposed with the same strength and dignity that the Exonerated Five showed as we served our punishment for a crime we did not commit,” Salaam said.
On Tuesday (April 4), Trump pleaded not guilty to all charges in connection to alleged “hush money” paid to adult film actress Stormy Daniels prior to the 2016 presidential election.
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