The U.S. is reinstating the death penalty by firing squad

The U.S. Department of Justice has officially announced the resumption of federal executions and an expansion of execution methods, including the use of firing squads. 

CNN reports on the return to initiatives from Donald Trump’s first term and the lifting of the moratorium imposed during the Biden administration. The department has already approved death sentences for 44 individuals and is implementing measures to carry out the executions as quickly as possible once all appeals have been exhausted.

According to Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche, this step is the department’s “sacred duty” to the victims of crime. The updated protocol, in addition to traditional lethal injections, now provides for alternative methods of execution, among which firing squads are identified as a priority for implementation at the federal level. Previously, this method was permitted in only five states (Idaho, Mississippi, Oklahoma, Utah, and South Carolina), but it has now been authorized for federal cases.

The Trump administration justifies this decision by citing the need to protect the American people and ensure effective justice against the most dangerous criminals. Specifically, in the coming weeks, there are plans to restrict convicted individuals’ ability to file clemency petitions until all court proceedings have been definitively concluded. This decision has already sparked heated debate in American society and among human rights organizations, which point out that such methods contradict modern human rights standards. However, government officials emphasize that under President Trump’s leadership, the priority is strict adherence to the law and support for the families of victims of serious crimes. Thus, the U.S. is becoming one of the few Western democracies actively returning to the practice of executing convicts by firing squad. The situation at the state level remains mixed, but the federal government has clearly demonstrated its intention to tighten the country’s punitive policies.