South Carolina just
executed a man by firing squad. This violent
state-sponsored killing is a horrifying reminder of the
brutality of the death penalty — a punishment that still
exists in most U.S. states.
Warning:
disturbing details follow.
Brad
Sigmon was forced to choose how the state would kill
him: by being electrocuted in a chair,
chemically suffocated by lethal injection, or shot to
death. Given the options, a firing squad
actually seemed less traumatic to him by
comparison.
Sigmon's execution was not
swift, painless, or humane. He was brought to
the state's death chamber, where he was
strapped into a chair above a basin to collect blood.
Once there, officials pulled a hood over his head and
marked a target on his chest. Witnesses flinched as
gunshots rang out from three volunteer executioners,
watching his body convulse as bullets ripped through
him. His arms tensed, he gasped for air, muscles peaked
out of his wound, and a red stain spread across his
chest before he finally died.
This was not
justice — it was a spectacle of
suffering. And it will happen again unless we
take action now. The state of South Carolina has made
clear that it will continue this barbaric practice, with
executions planned every five weeks.
There are still 28 people on death row, awaiting a fate
that no human being should endure.
The death
penalty is not only cruel and inhumane, but it is also
deeply flawed. Innocent people have been
executed, and the system is riddled with
errors. On top of that, racial and economic
disparities plague the U.S. policing system,
court verdicts, and judges' sentencing choices.
Even former executioners have come forward to
say the death penalty is nothing more than legalized
torture.
Sign this petition to
call for an immediate halt to all executions and to
demand that lawmakers abolish the death penalty in the
U.S. once and for all.
