Firing Squads Reinstated for Federal Executions

It's April 24th.

From your city to your ears, this is California News Today, powered by AI.

I'm Cory with the story.

The Justice Department just greenlit firing squads for federal executions, marking the

first time ever in their protocols.

With only three inmates left on federal death row, after former President Joe Biden commuted

37 sentences to life, this move aims to beef up.

Capital punishment.

They're also bringing back single drug lethal injections using pentobarbital.

Earlier this week, acting Attorney General Todd Blanche announced these changes as part

of a push to enforce the death penalty more aggressively under.

President Trump.

The first Trump team carried out 13 executions with pentobarbital.

The most in modern history, before Biden pulled it over paying concerns.

Now they say the science backs it, claiming inmates lose consciousness fast with no suffering.

Meanwhile, five states already allow firing squads, Idaho, Mississippi, Oklahoma, South

Carolina, and Utah.

Just Friday, South Carolina executed Brad Sigmund by firing squad for murdering his ex-girlfriends

parents back in 2001.

The death penalty remains legal in 27 states overall.

On the federal side, those three death row inmates are Dylan Roof, who killed nine at

Mother Emanuel Church in Charleston in 2015.

No cards are naiv, the Boston Marathon bomber, and Robert Bowers, who gunned down 11 at

Pittsburgh's Tree of Life Synagogue in 2018.

The Trump administration is now seeking death penalties for at least 44 more defendants.

This shift signals a real pivot back to tough on crime enforcement, prioritizing victims

and going after terrorists, child killers, and cop murderers.

Keep an eye on how these protocols play out in the courts ahead.