In brief
President Trump’s 2025 return to the death penalty has sparked a wave of new and old execution methods across the country. The Army plans to livestream the firing‑squad execution of Nidal Hasan, the 2009 Fort Hood attacker, after a failed lethal‑injection attempt on Christa Pike revealed the fragility of the current system. States are experimenting with nitrogen gas, re‑authorising electric chairs, and even considering policies that exclude hanging while the medical community condemns participation in executions. The debate touches on human dignity, the role of technology in state‑issued death, and the future of capital punishment in a divided nation.
Warning: this story contains upsetting descriptions of executions
Why the US is bringing back firing squads
America’s death‑penalty debate has been reignited by Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth’s announcement that the Army will livestream the firing‑squad execution of former military psychiatrist Nidal Hasan, the 2009 Fort Hood attacker who killed 13 unarmed soldiers. This marks the first firing‑squad death since 1945 and follows a botched lethal‑injection attempt on convicted murderer Christa Pike, who survived the unfinished execution for ten days.
Botched executions
Over five decades, 64 executions have been listed as botched, with 51 involving lethal injection. Poor training, degraded drugs and experimental drug combinations have led to painful and prolonged deaths, leaving the public skeptical of the prison system’s humaneness.
New methods like nitrogen gas
States such as Alabama and Louisiana have begun using nitrogen gas, forcing prisoners to inhale the inert gas to suffocate them. Witnesses describe violent struggles and seizure episodes, raising questions about the method’s cruelty.
A return to the electric chair
Nine states now authorise the electric chair, including South Carolina which uses it as the default method. The history of electrocution includes infamous botched cases, such as Pedro Medina’s head igniting in 1997, underscoring the risk of continued use.
The Trump factor
President Trump’s 2025 return to the death penalty has renewed federal support and spurred state legislatures to re‑authorise varied execution methods. He has called for expanding the penalty to drug dealers, traffickers and police killers, while officials stress the need for reliable execution methods that avoid the “mess” seen in past attempts.
The future of capital punishment in the United States is now a tapestry of history, science, ethics and politics – as the nation watches, debates and, in some cases, broadcasts its most controversial sentence in a world where every timeline is on the table.
