Alabama condemned for nitrogen gas execution: ‘They intended to torture him’
theguardian.com
cross-posted from: https://lemmy.ca/post/14097254
Smith’s execution by “nitrogen hypoxia” took around 22 minutes, according to media witnesses, who were led into a viewing room at the William C Holman correctional facility in Atmore shortly before 8 pm local time.
After the nitrogen gas began flowing, Smith convulsed on the gurney for several minutes. The state had previously said the nitrogen gas would cause Smith to lose consciousness in seconds and die within minutes, according to the Associated Press.
“I’ve been to four previous executions and I’ve never seen a condemned inmate thrash in the way that Kenneth Smith reacted to the nitrogen gas,” Lee Hedgepeth, a journalist who witnessed the execution, told the BBC’s Newsday programme.
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First, all executions should be illegal. But if you do execute someone, nitrogen is the most humane way to do it if done correctly.
If he was thrashing it means that he was rebreathing the same air he exhaled, and the CO2 buildup caused him to thrash and die in agony. How incompetent people must be, this is simple.
The cruelty is the point.
I really really hope this is incompetence, because if this is intentional, the person(s) responsible should be criminally liable for it. I'm no lawyer, but this should be a criminal offense to intentionally cause someone physical suffering.