Trump speeds up death penalty executions, overturns 131-year tradition

The outgoing President of the United States, Donald trump, carried out a series of federal executions during his last days in office, ignoring calls for clemency and outbreaks of Covid-19 Behind bars. Even today, Thursday, December 10, a convict will be executed by lethal injection.

Brandon Bernard, a 40-year-old African-American, will be sentenced to death in a prison in Terre Haute, Indiana, for his role in a 1999 double murder in Texas when he was 18. More than 500,000 people have signed petitions urging Trump to commute Bernard’s sentence to life in prison, citing his age at the time of the crime and his good behavior as a prisoner.

Among those supporting Bernard is the reality TV star Kim kardashian. “At 18 months, his brain was still developing,” Kardashian said. “While Brandon was involved in this crime, his role was minor compared to that of the other teenagers involved, two of whom have already returned from prison.”

Bernard and four other black teenagers have been convicted of kidnapping youth ministers Todd and Stacie Bagley, a white couple from Iowa. They forced them to withdraw money before finally shooting and burning them in their car.

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As the crime took place on a US military base, he was tried in federal court. The gunman, Christopher Vialva, then 19, and Bernard, who set the car on fire, were sentenced to death in 2000.

Vialva was executed by lethal injection in September, but other participants under the age of 17 at the time avoided the death penalty.

Without a last-minute respite, Bernard will be the ninth federal prisoner to be executed since July, when the administration Trump resumed federal executions after a 17-year hiatus.

Despite Trump’s defeat in the November 3 presidential election, which he refused to admit, his administration plans to conduct more federal executions before stepping down. For 131 years, outgoing presidents have traditionally suspended federal executions during the transition period.

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The last federal execution is scheduled for the January 15, just five days before Democrat Joe Biden takes office. Biden vowed to end federal executions. Prior to July, there had only been three federal executions in the past 45 years.

The Trump administration is “out of step with the way the federal government has approached the death penalty in recent history,” said Ngozi Ndulue, research director at the Center for Information on the Death Penalty (DPIC). Ndulue said he also disagreed with “public opinion and public support for the death penalty”.

Ndulue also highlighted racial disparities in the use of the death penalty in the United States. Five of the first six federal prisoners executed since July were white. The other was a Native American. However, the last two prisoners executed were black, as were four of the next five. The other is a white woman, Lisa Montgomery. Montgomery would be the first woman to be executed by the federal government since 1953.

Some 20 protesters against the death penalty gathered in front of the Ministry of Justice on Thursday with signs that said “All life is precious” and that shouted “execution is not the solution”. “There is no reason to carry out these executions,” said Abraham Bonowitz, 53, director of Action against the death penalty. “We know we can save ourselves from dangerous criminals and hold them accountable without execution.”

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Chaz howard, a 42-year-old minister, said he was “very sad that in the last days of this administration they are rushing to kill people“.” This administration is the opposite of pro-life. It’s like the most pro-death administration we’ve had in a long time, ”Howard said.

Ndulue said it was “really surprising” that the government “aggressively pursue executions amid a global pandemicThe coronavirus pandemic is sweeping the United States with more than 3,000 deaths reported on Wednesday, bringing the total to nearly 290,000. Amid the health crisis, even states like Texas that carry out the most executions They have been suspended due to the concern of prison staff, witnesses and families of the victims.

Trump’s Attorney General, Bill Barr has rejected requests to suspend federal executions, saying the government is obligated to carry out court sentences for “heinous” crimes..

JD / CP