President Trump’s pick to be a federal district judge in Alabama appears to have posted comments on his support for the death penalty, including suggesting that inmates be shot, according to a report Tuesday from Slate.
In one post, an online user with the alias BamainBoston on the online messaging board TideFans.com responded to news that an inmate had died of a heart attack after his lethal injection was administered.
BamainBoston wrote: “Just shoot them. That’s effective.”
BuzzFeed last week first linked the online alias with Brett Talley, Trump’s judicial pick.
According to BuzzFeed, BamainBoston regularly posted on TideFans.com, weighing in on politics and sports. In one post, BamainBoston identified himself as Talley and linked to a Washington Post article, adding, “Washington Post Did A Feature On Me.”
In the posts on the death penalty, BamainBoston also reportedly said that it would be “awesome” if Alabama reinstated the use of electric chairs during executions.
He also said he worked on capital punishment cases throughout his career as an attorney, according to Slate.
{mosads}”Handled a bunch of death row cases in my previous job. With one exception, every one of them admitted that they’d committed the crime but were trying to mitigate to life without parole based on some excuse—drugs, violent childhood, etc.,” BamainBoston said.
“And the one exception the guy was clearly guilty. I don’t know the details on this Arkansas case, but death row cases with an actual innocence claim are kind of like abortions based on rape, incest, or the life of the mother. They certainly happen, but the whole debate shouldn’t turn on them.”
This is not the first time Talley has been accused of making controversial comments online.
Talley reportedly defended the early Ku Klux Klan on the website, and even wrote about paranormal activity when he was a part of the Tuscaloosa Paranormal Research Group between 2009 and 2010, according to Slate.
Talley’s nomination is under scrutiny after he failed to disclose on a Senate questionnaire that he is married to Ann Donaldson, the chief of staff for the White House counsel.
Talley has also never tried a case.
Republicans, though, are standing by the president’s nominee. He was approved by the Senate Judiciary Committee and now is awaiting a vote by the full chamber.
This story was updated at 10:14 a.m.