US executes man with nitrogen gas

Alabama, the US state, has executed a man convicted of a 1993 murder by using nitrogen gas. The method of execution is known as a highly controversial method in the country. Critics have described it as “cruel and unusual punishment.”

Al Jazeera reported on Friday (October 24) that 54-year-old Anthony Boyd was executed on Thursday evening local time. He was accused of burning a man to death in a drug dispute over just $200. However, Boyd maintained his innocence until his death.

In his last words before his death, he said, “I did not kill anyone. I did not participate in killing anyone. There can be no justice until this system changes.”

This is the seventh execution in Alabama since January 2024, where nitrogen gas has been used. According to the US-based Death Penalty Information Center, the method is being used instead of lethal injection due to the complexity of obtaining and administering the drug.

The use of nitrogen gas is particularly controversial because it prolongs the death process. Before being executed, Boyd petitioned the court to be executed by firing squad. Boyd argued that nitrogen gas fell under the category of “cruel and unusual punishment” prohibited by the Eighth Amendment. The court denied that petition.

However, the majority decision was opposed by three liberal Supreme Court justices: Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan, and Ketanji Brown Jackson. In her dissent, Sotomayor described nitrogen gas as “torturous asphyxiation” compared to other methods.

“Boyd asked for only a little mercy, and that was death by gunshot, which would have occurred in seconds,” she said. But the court didn't give him that grace either.' Local journalist Sarah Clifton, who was at the scene, said, 'The whole process from the time Boyd was tied up to the time he was pronounced dead took about 40 minutes.'

The nitrogen gas was applied at 5:57 a.m. local time. Even then, Boyd continued to breathe and breathed for more than 20 minutes. His body then began to tremble. At 6:18 a.m., he became unconscious. Then, at 6:27 a.m., the gas was turned off, and at 6:33 a.m., he was pronounced dead.

Boyd had spent 30 years in prison before his death. He was sentenced to death in 1995 for the murder of Gregory New York Hough. The trial was conducted solely on the basis of testimony. No physical evidence was presented. According to the Death Penalty Information Center, the trial took place in a county that had the highest per capita death penalty rate in the United States at the time.