South Carolina will execute another inmate by firing squad: Here’s why they won’t use lethal injection
After 15 years without a single firing squad execution in the US, Mikal Mahdi is set to become the second in two months.
For the second time in two months, South Carolina is set to execute a death row inmate by firing squad. Convicted murdered Mikal Mahdi was sentenced to death 20 years ago and will now face his fate.
The 42-year-old has opted to die by three bullets to the heart, instead of the lethal injection or electric chair methods more commonly used. In fact, until last month there had been no firing squad deaths in the US since 2010.
In March Brad Sigmon became the first firing squad death in 15 years. Mahdi will become only the fifth prisoner to face a firing squad since 1976. This method of execution is controversial and has unsavoury associations with political terror and military justice, used in the Soviet Union and Nazi Germany.
Why is South Carolina using a firing squad?
Inmates in South Carolina are given the choice of method of execution. Mahdi was given the option of lethal injection or electric chair, but chose firing squad instead.
In recent years states have struggled to source the drugs used for lethal injection executions and some have re-introduced firing squad as an option for inmates. South Carolina is one of five states to pass laws allowing firing squad recently, along with Idaho, Mississippi, Oklahoma and Utah.
CBS News reports that Mahdi will likely wear all-black with a red target on his chest, which the three volunteer shooters will aim at. They will use the .308-caliber Winchester 110-grain TAP Urban ammunition regularly used in police rifles. The round is designed to break apart on contact with the target, ensuring maximum damage and an instant death.
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