Skip to content

Firing squad debate returns after discussion of execution policy changes

newsApr 27, 20261634

The Justice Department under the Trump administration announced it will restore firing squads and resume pentobarbital lethal injections to accelerate federal executions. Human-rights advocate Sister Helen Prejean called the move "barbarism," saying it reflects a taste for "video game brutality." Advocates point out U.S. police gunfire kills more than 1,000 people a year while just 24 prisoners were executed in 2023, using that contrast to criticize the policy shift. Critics say reinstating firing squads revives urgent questions about state violence, racial inequality, and the Second Amendment's legacy.

1 source