Republican Sen. Tom Cotton (Ar.) blasted presidential hopefuls Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D., Ma.) and South Bend mayor Pete Buttigieg for their criticisms of the death penalty.
Warren and Buttigieg denounced the news that the DOJ would resume executing federal death row inmates, which marked an end to a 16-year gap during which no federal executions occurred.
"Our criminal justice system has a long history of mistakes when it comes to capital punishment—especially when it comes to Black and Brown people," Warren wrote on Twitter. "We cannot let a broken system decide the fate of incarcerated Americans. I oppose the death penalty."
Cotton hit back, blasting Warren and Buttigieg and writing that she and other Democrats had lost their minds on the issue. He described one of the inmate's heinous crimes and pointed out the inmate's conviction occurred under the Clinton Department of Justice.
"I hate to break the news, but the first murderer facing execution is an Aryan Nation white supremacist," Cotton wrote on Twitter. "He brutally murdered an 8-year-old Arkansas girl & her parents. *Clinton DOJ* sought death penalty. Dems have lost their mind since the 1990s."
.@ewarren, I hate to break the news, but the first murderer facing execution is an Aryan Nation white supremacist. He brutally murdered an 8-year-old Arkansas girl & her parents. *Clinton DOJ* sought death penalty. Dems have lost their mind since the 1990s. https://t.co/LNA5mzzYWh
— Tom Cotton (@TomCottonAR) July 26, 2019
Cotton then went after Buttigieg. "@PeteButtigieg apparently not aware this murderer is an Aryan Nation white supremacist who killed an 8-year-old Arkansas girl & her parents," he wrote. "A jury of his peers—not race or geography—decided he should die for his heinous crimes. Much more than his victims got."
.@PeteButtigieg apparently not aware this murderer is an Aryan Nation white supremacist who killed an 8-year-old Arkansas girl & her parents. A jury of his peers—not race or geography—decided he should die for his heinous crimes. Much more than his victims got. https://t.co/mMJW2nDfNM
— Tom Cotton (@TomCottonAR) July 26, 2019
Cotton praised the DOJ's decision yesterday, praising both President Donald Trump and Attorney General William Barr. "Most Americans have always believed that the death penalty is a just response to the most heinous crimes," he wrote on Twitter. "I commend the president & AG Barr for resuming executions to carry out sentences for five brutal murderers."
Among the five scheduled executions are the white supremacist murderer Cotton mentioned, a man who tortured and murdered his two-year-old daughter, and a man convicted of murdering five people.