A Pinellas County candidate for the Florida House of Representatives has called for the hanging of President Barack Obama.
Seriously.
"I'm past impeachment," Joshua Black wrote on Twitter, according to a Tampa Bay Times political blog. "it's time to arrest and hang him."
Black is 31, African American, lives in Pinellas Park and drives a taxi. He moved to Florida in 2007 after practicing street evangelism in St. Louis, according to his campaign website.
He is running to represent District 68, which includes Northeast St. Petersburg, eastern Pinellas Park and southern Feather Sound.
Another Republican House candidate was outraged at Black's tweet, according to the Times.
"You aren't seriously calling for the killing of Obama are you?" District 67 candidate Chris Latvala replied. "I know you are crazy but good heavens. U R an embarrassment."
But Black defended his tweet. Obama should be held responsible for ordering a drone strike that killed a U.S. citizen overseas, he said.
"He should be executed for treason," Black told the Times. "I think the appropriate punishment is death. They killed Benedict Arnold. (Obama) shouldn't be allowed to kill Americans without a trial."
In a Facebook post, Black reiterated his belief.
"I make no apologies for saying that the President is not above the People," he wrote. "If ordinary Americans should be executed for treason, so should he."
Pinellas County GOP Chairman Michael Guju told the Times Black doesn't know the details of the drone strike.
"It is impossible to accept this statement," Guju said. "This is wholly unacceptable and unduly provocative."
On his campaign website, Black seems to argue against extremism.
"Republicans have a serious communication problem," he says. "Everything we say sounds like spears."