The death penalty is an abuse of government power

Firing squad, electrocution and gas asphyxiation's return signals Trump administration’s continued assassination of moral principles 

By THE EDITORIAL BOARD — opinion@theaggie.org

On April 24, 2026, the United States Justice Department announced — as part of a report titled “Restoring and Strengthening the Federal Death Penalty” — its intention to reinstate the firing squad, electrocution and gas asphyxiation as methods of execution for federal death penalty cases. Citing a difficulty of acquiring drugs needed for lethal injection, this decision marks a return to barbarism for an already-inhumane practice. 

Care for human life is antonymous with President Donald Trump’s administration, and the recent reversal of modern execution standards, which aim to preserve dignity and prevent pain, follows this pattern of apathy. In former President Joe Biden’s term, 37 of 40 death penalty sentences were converted to life in prison, and the Trump administration has already authorized 44 death sentences since his inauguration. 

Between 1977 and 2026, there have been three individuals killed in the U.S. by firing squad. In South Carolina on April 11 — one of only five states permitting this method — the first firing squad-administered death in the U.S. in 15 years caused Mikahl Mahdi to feel “pain and suffering while conscious” as a result of all three gunshots missing his heart. While lethal injection is not without faults, the notion that the firing squad poses a more humane alternative is intentionally ignorant and has no substantial modern data to support it. 

"[Mahdi] did experience excruciating conscious pain and suffering for about 30 to 60 seconds after he was shot," a forensic pathologist said in a written autopsy report. 

The death penalty itself poses especially concerning ramifications in the U.S. In an analysis by the Death Penalty Information (DPI) Center of 9,700 death sentences, results indicated 189 exonerations after execution; for every 8.2 executions, 1 person was wrongfully convicted. Additionally, there has been a 70% increase in the number of convicted individuals proven innocent — in terms of wrongful convictions across the board over a 5-year period. 

Death sentences differ disproportionately on geographic location and race. In the DPI study, 2% of U.S. counties constituted 50% of the nation’s total executions, and states with high execution rates had the “worst access to meaningful judicial review.” Black individuals in the U.S. also have seven times the likelihood of white people to be falsely convicted of serious crimes. In a country where persecution is racially targeted, varies significantly depending on location and has increasing wrongful conviction rates, it is not possible for our government-mandated executions to be just. 

As the consequences of a second Trump term become increasingly far-reaching and cruel, the Editorial Board urges you to remember where your information is coming from. Trust in the work of researchers and experts in the field, and shelve misinformation with the rest of Trump’s propaganda and dehumanization tactics. When in doubt, reputable news sources and peer-reviewed scientific journals are a strong place to start. 

With the president often posing as a religious, spiritual or God-like figure, the administration’s decision to restore previously outlawed methods of human execution should come as no surprise. Despite declaring an intention to deter crime, enact justice and grant closure, there is no logical basis for lethal injection to be proclaimed ineffective. By intending to use more-violent measures as a deterrent, the Justice Department is admitting to the inhumanity of these executions and revealing its true motive: government-sanctioned punishment.

Reinstating execution methods common in the military, in times of war and as punishment for mutiny in colonial times — as well as in Nazi concentration camps during the Holocaust — is a terrifying signal of the Trump administration’s continued commitment to violence against civilians. While the death penalty’s existence as capital punishment remains a controversial topic in itself, the reintroduction of the firing squad, electrocution and gas asphyxiation shouldn't be.

The Justice Department’s decision does not exist in a vacuum: Trump’s direction to resume seeking executions on his first day in office, violent and illegal deportation efforts and involvement in the U.S.-Israeli War with Iran have demonstrated his lack of basic morality and sense of justice. The Trump administration does not only disvalue human life, it takes concrete action to harm and kill civilians.  

Written by: The Editorial Board — opinion@theaggie.org