Exonerated Central Park Five man lampoons Trump ad

A man who was cleared in the 1980s rape of a woman in New York's Central Park has lampooned an ad Donald Trump placed at the time calling for the return of the death penalty in the state.

Yusef Salaam's post ridicules Mr Trump for his arrest in Manhattan on Tuesday when he pleaded not guilty to 34 felony counts of business fraud.

Mr Salaam was one of five boys dubbed the Central Park Five.

Their convictions were quashed in 2002 after another man admitted the rape.

In 1989, the beating and sexual assault of a 28-year-old white investment banker who was left for dead in a bush in Central Park shocked New York City.

In the aftermath, Mr Trump placed full-page adverts in major New York newspapers calling for the return of capital punishment in the state.

"Over 30 years ago, Donald Trump took out full page ads calling for my execution," Mr Salaam tweeted on Tuesday night. "On the day he was arrested and arraigned, here is my ad in response."

"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 in fairness for others while claiming only innocence for himself," he wrote.

"You were wrong then, and you are wrong now," he continued, adding that he would not "resort to hatred, bias or racism - as you once did".

Mr Trump denies allegations by Manhattan's district attorney that he falsified business records over hush money payments to a porn star.

Last week, when news broke that Mr Trump would face charges, Mr Salaam, now a candidate for the New York City Council, tweeted: "Karma."

Mr Salaam, who appears in the Netflix documentary When They See Us, has previously said Mr Trump "put a bounty on our heads".

The former defendants, now known as the Exonerated Five, initially confessed to the crime but later recanted saying their admissions were the result of police coercion.

They were imprisoned for between five and 13 years - but their convictions were ultimately overturned in 2002 after a serial violent offender named Matias Reyes confessed to the attack and DNA linked him to the crime.

In 2014, a $41m (£32m) settlement was reached between the five men and New York City.