A candidate for mayor in the small Alabama city of Sylacauga is calling for drug dealers to be publicly hanged.
Michael Ray James, a 59-year-old special education teacher, has included in his platform a proposal to publicly hang drug dealers who are arrested or convicted multiple times. He’s written about the proposal in several posts and comments on his campaign Facebook page.
“Yes, I’m very aware public hanging is extreme and totally not possible without Federal Approvals and not from city or state officials,” James wrote on Facebook. “Extreme yes, but definitely brings attention to this scourge on Sylacauga, Alabama and the United States of America.”
James’ Facebook posts have drawn dozens of shares and comments, many from people criticizing the proposal.
“I understand their position,” James said in a phone interview with AL.com. “It’s just a difference of opinion. I think everybody has an opinion and that’s OK.”
James acknowledged that his proposal is at odds with the law and nearly impossible to implement but said he still supports the idea.
“I am serious about, after somebody has been convicted three times, I am very serious about them losing their life, whether it’s to lethal injection or hanging,” James said of those convicted of dealing drugs.
In addition to calling for the public hangings, James says he would make other changes — including removing the “inactive and lazy” city council and requesting an FBI audit of the city — if elected to be the next mayor of Sylacauga.
Located just outside the Talladega National Forest, about 45 miles southeast of Birmingham, Sylacauga is home to about 12,000 people in Talladega County. The city is led by a mayor and five city councilors. Qualifying for the August city elections is set to be announced in July.
James describes himself as a Christian and right-to-life conservative who would offer “huge” incentives to attract businesses to the city.
He said he doesn’t want people to think of him as a monster because of his call for publicly executing drug dealers.
“I’m not a nut,” he said. “My biggest concern is what drugs can do to a community.”
As a special education teacher for 15 years, now employed at Central Elementary in the neighboring Coosa County school district, James said he’s seen the affects drugs can have on families and children. He said some of his students have gone without food, been placed in foster care or struggled with behavioral issues because of the stress and trauma caused by their parents’ drug addiction.
If elected, James said, he will immediately contact city, local and federal law enforcement for a plan to fight drug sales in Talladega County and surrounding areas.
“It seems like nothing’s being done about the drug problem,” he said. “Something should be done about it.”