For the first time since the method was reinstated by Republican governor Gary Herbert, Utah will utilize firing squads to execute three murderers.

Each of the three convicted of heinous crimes opted to choose the firing squad as opposed to lethal injection.

The method was brought back due to a shortage of lethal injection drugs.

Via Heat Street:

Utah will execute three inmates by firing squad for the first time since the method was reinstated in 2015 by Gov. Gary Herbert.

The three condemned, Taberon Dave Honie, Troy Michael Kell, and Ralph Leroy Menzies, all opted for the firing squad instead of the more traditional lethal injection of sodium thiopental and potassium chloride. They are all guilty of murder, with Honie also guilty of raping his ex-girlfriend’s mother in front of her grandchildren. Their execution dates have not yet been set.

Utah’s reintroduction of the firing squad comes in the middle of a national debate over the death penalty. The method was brought back in part because of a nationwide shortage of lethal injection drugs after several companies said they would stop selling them to states using them for capital punishment.

Here’s exactly how the state will carry out the firing squad executions:

 

President Trump is a strong proponent of capital punishment, advocating for the death penalty for individuals that murder police officers.

“One of the first things I’d do in terms of executive orders, if I win, will be to sign a strong, strong statement that will go out to the country, out to the world, that anybody killing a policeman, a policewoman, a police officer, anybody killing a police officer: Death penalty is going to happen, okay?” Trump said.

And he half-jokingly suggested traitors such as Bowe Bergdahl should fall victim to the firing squad.

Trump said Bergdahl, charged with desertion and misbehavior before the enemy, said Bergdahl is a “no-good traitor” and would have been shot 30 years ago.

Utah stands alongside Oklahoma as the only two states with a firing squad option for death row inmates.

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