US Brings Back Firing Squad Execution After 15 Years

A South Carolina man convicted of murdering his ex-girlfriend’s parents is set to be executed by firing squad on Friday, marking the first such execution in the United States in 15 years.

Brad Sigmon, 67, will be put to death at a prison in Columbia, South Carolina, for the 2001 killings of David and Gladys Larke, who were beaten to death with a baseball bat.

Sigmon, who admitted to the murders at trial, was given the choice of lethal injection, firing squad, or the electric chair for his execution.

His attorney, Gerald “Bo” King, said Sigmon was forced into an “impossible” and “abjectly cruel” decision regarding how he would die.

“Unless he chose lethal injection or the firing squad, he would face South Carolina’s ancient electric chair, which would burn and cook him alive,” King said.

“But the alternative is just as horrific,” he added, noting that lethal injection carried the risk of prolonged suffering, as seen in previous executions in the state.

The last U.S. execution by firing squad took place in Utah in 2010, with two others carried out in the state in 1996 and 1977.

The 1977 execution of convicted murderer Gary Gilmore inspired Norman Mailer’s 1979 book The Executioner’s Song.

Since the Supreme Court reinstated the death penalty in 1976, most executions in the U.S. have been carried out by lethal injection.

Alabama recently executed four inmates using nitrogen gas, a method condemned by UN experts as inhumane. This technique involves pumping nitrogen gas into a face mask, causing suffocation.

Currently, five U.S. states—South Carolina, Utah, Idaho, Mississippi, and Oklahoma—authorize firing squad executions.

Renovations to the Death Chamber

The South Carolina Department of Corrections (SCDC) has made modifications to the execution chamber to facilitate the firing squad.

A bullet-resistant glass barrier now separates the witness room from the execution area.

Sigmon will be restrained in a metal chair, hooded, and positioned 15 feet (five meters) from a wall with a rectangular opening.

A three-person firing squad, composed of SCDC volunteers, will shoot through the opening. All three rifles will contain live ammunition, and a designated “aim point” will be marked above Sigmon’s heart by a member of the execution team.

Death Penalty in the U.S.

So far this year, five executions have taken place in the United States, with 25 recorded last year.

The death penalty has been abolished in 23 states, while three others—California, Oregon, and Pennsylvania—have moratoriums in place.

Meanwhile, Arizona, Ohio, and Tennessee, which had previously paused executions, have announced plans to resume them.

Former President Donald Trump has been a strong advocate for capital punishment and, on his first day in office, called for its expanded use for “the vilest crimes.”