Update:

Carbon Hill Mayor Mark Chambers has issued an apology for a Facebook post that referenced “killing out” gay and transgender people, socialists and “baby killers.”

Chambers told the AP he’s sorry for suggesting anyone be killed and did not intend to target the LGBTQ community.

Chambers has not responded to AL.com’s request for comment.

Earlier:

The mayor of a small Alabama town is defending his social media posts about gay and transgender people, socialists and “baby killers,” including comments that reference “killing them out.”

Carbon Hill Mayor Mark Chambers posted a comment to his personal Facebook page that echoed statements and memes currently circulating on social media. WBRC in Birmingham first reported the comments and Chambers’ statements.

Chambers wrote:

“We live in a society where homosexuals lecture us on morals, transvestites lecture us on human biology, baby killers lecture us on human rights and socialists lecture us on economics.”

When a Facebook friend replied that they “hate to think of the country my grandkids will live in,” adding change would “take a revolution,” Chambers replied: “The only way to change it would be to kill the problem out. I know it’s bad to say but without killing them out there’s no way to fix it.”

Chambers initially denied writing the post to WBRC but later said they were meant to be shared in a private message as opposed to a public post. He also said the comments were taken out of context.

“I never said anything about killing out gays or anything like that,” Chambers told the television station, saying his posts was referring to what would happen in a “revolution.”

“If it comes to a revolution in this country both sides of these people will be killed out," he said.

Chambers was not at city hall when AL.com attempted to contact him and the person who answered the phone said he did not have email. He has not responded to questions sent to him via the city clerk.

Carbon Hill is in Walker County. The town has a population of some 2,200 people.

Residents react

Some residents are taking to Facebook to express their feelings about Chambers’ comments.

"When’s the next election? So we can get this dude outta here ? It’s 2019 there’s no place for people like him in office,” one commenter wrote on the Facebook page Walker County Today.

Others were defending Chambers’ rights to express his opinion.

“This is America…where everyone does still have a Constitutional tight to freedom of speech,” another wrote. “Whether or not it is very classless, and it is, he is still entitled to his thoughts and opinions,” another wrote.