Alabama official asks Trump to mandate public hangings for cop killers

Alabama State Auditor Jim Zeigler said he asked President Donald Trump to mandate public hangings for those convicted of killing law enforcement officials.

"I believe that to get the attention of a would-be killer who might kill a law enforcement officer, he needs to know that the old-fashioned public hanging has been brought back," Zeigler told WVTM-TV on Monday.

Zeigler added that he reached out to Trump and contacts within his administration to add the death penalty mandate to his State of the Union address, the Trussville Tribune reported.

"I agree that public hanging is extreme, but also killing a law enforcement officer is extreme," he added to WVTM. "You've got to get the attention of these would-be killers in order for it to be a deterrent."

'Nothing else makes them think. Maybe hanging would.'

"Nothing else makes them think," Zeigler told the paper. "Maybe hanging would."

More from the Tribune:

Two Alabama police officers have been killed in the line of duty in recent weeks. Birmingham Police Sgt. Wytasha Carter was gunned down on Jan. 13 during a burglary investigation. A week later, on Jan. 20, Mobile Police Officer Sean Tuder was killed while on duty.

Zeigler told the station there have been 10 law enforcement officer killings nationwide in 2019, and the moment is now for "timely and swift justice."

"We need an 'express lane' for executions such as Texas has — maybe stronger," Zeigler said in a statement to the Tribune. "We need to stop these 20- to 30-year delays in executions at taxpayer expense. Justice delayed is justice denied. These potential killers are not deterred by what may happen to them in 30 years. They are thinking of instant gratification in the next 30 minutes — or 30 seconds."

(H/T: Blue Lives Matter)