Alabama Carries Out First Execution by Nitrogen Gas

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Facts

  • Kenneth Eugene Smith, an Alabama death row inmate who in 1989 was convicted of murdering Elizabeth Sennett, became the first person in the US to be executed using nitrogen gas Thursday after his last-minute appeals failed. Smith was pronounced dead at 8:25 p.m. ET.1
  • Alabama previously attempted to execute Smith by lethal injection in 2022 — the method used in the majority of US executions — but called off the execution after issues injecting him delayed the procedure. Officials were concerned they wouldn't complete the execution before Smith's death warrant expired.2
  • Several federal courts turned down Smith's lawyers' efforts to stop the execution. The US Supreme Court rejected his final appeal Thursday night, with none of the majority justices issuing a statement.3
  • Smith's lawyers had accused Alabama of using him as a 'test subject' for a method that is only approved as an alternative to lethal injections by two other states — Oklahoma and Mississippi.4
  • The Alabama attorney general's office argued that when Smith previously made a case against lethal injection, he — as required by law — requested an alternate method and picked nitrogen gas.5

Sources: 1Al Jazeera, 2New York Times, 3Associated Press, 4CBS and 5PBS NewsHour.

Narratives

  • Left narrative, as provided by Guardian. This was torture, plain and simple, and no state in any country should've been permitted to carry out an execution in this manner. In conflict with what Alabama predicted, Smith didn't lose consciousness in seconds and instead convulsed in an unprecedented manner on the gurney. He didn't die for nearly 22 minutes. Alabama has set the US back.
  • Right narrative, as provided by Daily Caller. Like his accomplice before him, Smith has finally been made to pay for his crime — a heinous act that the victim's family has had to live with for decades. Nothing out of the ordinary happened during this execution, and the involuntary movement was expected. This first case of execution by nitrogen gas was a success.

Predictions