U.S. Sen. Tommy Tuberville, the Republican frontrunner for governor, said last week that he plans to crack down on crime in Montgomery if elected governor. His comments come amidst scrutiny from Republican politicians in the state of violent crime in Alabama’s capital city.

“I’m not going to allow once I’m Governor, if I’m lucky enough to be elected, I’m not going to allow the people of this state of Alabama to live in a war zone or live in unsafe neighborhoods, if we can help it,” Tuberville said during an appearance on the conservative podcast “The Rightside.”

Montgomery saw an outbreak of shootings on April 11 and 12, when four people were killed and three others were wounded in multiple shooting events throughout the city. The weekend’s shootings brought the city’s homicide tally to 14 for the year.

Montgomery police have confirmed that none of the shootings that weekend were random events. Instead, all of the victims and suspects knew each other.

“I’m angry about the disregard for human life that was shown by the perpetrators in these cases,” Montgomery Police Chief James Graboys said during a press conference on April 12. “These individuals chose violence over peace and that’s completely unacceptable.” 

This shooting comes amid scrutiny of the Montgomery Police Department from Republican lawmakers in the state. A bill filed by state Sen. Will Barfoot, R-Pike Road, this legislative session sought to require Alabama’s larger cities to employ at least 1.9 police officers for every 1,000 residents. If cities failed to hire enough police officers to reach this rate, then the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency would assume control of that city’s police department at the city’s expense. 

“The motivation is simple: it’s the public safety of the citizens of Montgomery, those who live here, those who work here, those who own businesses here and the safety of those police officers, the men and women of the Montgomery Police Department,” said Barfoot during floor debate of the bill. 

The bill ultimately passed the Senate — notably after Sen. Kirk Hatcher, D-Montgomery, was not recognized to speak on the bill during debate — but failed to make it through the House before the end of this year’s legislative session.

Tuberville did not provide specifics on how he plans to take action against crime in the city, but he called for more law enforcement officers in the state, as well as putting more “people in jail, and we’re going to throw away the key.” He also said  that his team was “working on that as we speak.”

Despite the Republican focus on crime rates in Alabama’s cities, violent crime rates have been declining statewide. This includes Montgomery, where violent crime decreased by more than 25% in 2025 compared to the previous year. 

Alabama top stories in brief

Alabama sets June execution date for Jeffery James Lee

• Gov. Kay Ivey has scheduled the execution date for death row inmate Jeffery James Lee. Lee is set to be executed using nitrogen gas on June 11.
• Lee was convicted in 1998 of murdering two people, Jimmy Ellis and Elaine Thompson, while robbing a pawn shop owned by Ellis.
• Lee is currently involved in a federal lawsuit regarding the humaneness of nitrogen gas executions. Lee’s lawyers are arguing that the execution method counts as cruel and unusual punishment, and are asking for the state to not execute Lee until a decision has been made in that case. A bench trial is scheduled for April 27.
• The state has used nitrogen gas in executions since 2024, but the method has been scrutinized by doctors and lawyers who say there is little research about using nitrogen gas as an execution method.
• Lee was also sentenced to death through a now-outlawed practice called judicial override. During his trial, the jury voted 7-5 that Lee should receive life in prison. However, the judge in the case overrode that decision to sentence Lee to death. 

Viral Fairhope ‘No Kings’ protester appears in court

• A Fairhope woman, Renae Gamble, appeared in court last week, six months after her arrest during an October 2025 “No Kings” protest against the Trump administration, and was acquitted of all charges against her. 
• Videos of Gamble’s arrest, where Gamble — wearing an inflatable penis costume — can be seen being pushed to the ground by Fairhope Police Cpl. Andrew Babb, gained traction online after Gamble’s legal team released body cam footage of the incident. 
• Fairhope police said Babb was arresting Gamble for refusing to take off the costume.
• Following her arrest, Gamble was charged with misdemeanor disorderly conduct, as well as receiving a municipal ordinance citation for breach of peace for giving law enforcement officers a fake name, “Auntifa,” during her arrest. 
• Gamble’s lawyers have said they will likely pursue a lawsuit against the Fairhope Police Department, accusing the department of violating Gamble’s First Amendment rights.

No part of Alabama drought-free, new report shows

• A new report from the U.S. Drought Monitor shows that all of the state is experiencing drought conditions, and, overall, drought conditions worsened statewide.
• The U.S. Drought Monitor ranks drought conditions on a scale of level 1, a moderate drought, to level 4, an exceptional drought. Currently, all of the southeast corner of the state is under a level 3 drought.
• Little rain is forecasted across the state for the next week.

CHOOSE Act athletic eligibility rule signed by Ivey

• Gov. Kay Ivey signed into effect last week a new law that will ensure that students who use CHOOSE Act funds to transfer from a public school to a private school would not lose their athletic eligibility. 
• The law, named the Let Kids Play Act, was passed by the Legislature during this year’s legislative session after Ivey said ensuring athletic eligibility for CHOOSE Act recipients was one of her top priorities for the session in her State of the State address in January. 
• Ivey sued the Alabama High School Athletics Association last year after the AHSAA said student athletes using the state’s school voucher program would lose their eligibility for one year under their financial aid rules. 
• In January, the AHSAA reclassified public and private schools, so they would not be competing for the same championship titles, and eliminated their financial aid eligibility rule in tandem with this move.

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