President Trump’s DOJ just reinstated firing squads for federal executions, delivering swift justice to monsters like MS-13 killers after Biden’s weak moratorium let them languish.
DOJ Announces Major Shift in Federal Executions
On April 24, 2026, the U.S. Department of Justice released a 52-page report titled “Restoring and Strengthening the Federal Death Penalty.” The directive instructs the Bureau of Prisons to reinstate pentobarbital-based lethal injection protocols from Trump’s first term. It expands options to include firing squads, addressing chronic shortages of execution drugs. This move rescinds the Biden-Garland moratorium that halted federal executions and commuted over 37 death sentences.
Targeting Gang Violence and Barbaric Crimes
The DOJ has authorized death penalty pursuits against 44 defendants, spotlighting MS-13 members. Attorney General Pam Blanche approved capital charges against three, including two illegal immigrants who murdered a federal witness. President Trump ordered this aggressive stance to deter heinous acts and deliver justice for victims’ families. This contrasts sharply with Biden policies that shielded criminals through delays and commutations, frustrating Americans demanding accountability.
Firing squads mark a federal first in over a century, previously limited to states like Idaho, Mississippi, Oklahoma, South Carolina, and Utah. South Carolina’s April 11, 2025, execution of Mikal Mahdi by three-person squad succeeded despite protests, upheld by the Supreme Court. Such methods ensure reliable enforcement when pharmaceutical suppliers bow to activist pressure.
Streamlining Justice, Overcoming Leftist Obstructions
The report mandates rule changes to curb endless appeals and clemency petitions, accelerating timelines from sentencing to execution. The Bureau of Prisons must evaluate relocating death row, expanding facilities, or building dedicated execution sites. Alternatives like nitrogen gas, pioneered by Alabama in 2024, and electrocution receive consideration amid drug unavailability. These steps restore the federal death penalty’s effectiveness, eroded by prior administrations’ soft-on-crime approach.
DOJ announces return of firing squad as execution method pic.twitter.com/ekV2IrkEq5
— One America News (@OANN) April 24, 2026
Economically, streamlined processes cut prolonged legal costs borne by taxpayers. Politically, this bolsters Trump’s tough-on-crime legacy, polarizing critics who decry it as “17th-century” while ignoring victims’ pain. Proponents view it as pragmatic deterrence for barbaric offenses, honoring conservative values of law, order, and swift retribution against threats like gang violence tied to open borders.
Sources:
DOJ reinstates firing squads, pentobarbital for federal executions (CBS News)
Justice Department announces it’s readopting the firing squad as a … (Fox News)
DOJ announces it is bringing back firing squads in federal executions (KATV)
Trump DOJ brings back 17th-century execution method (The Independent)
Return of the Firing Squad Execution: the DOJ Reinstitutes It Despite Protest (La Voce di New York)
