Justice Department adds firing squad to federal execution protocols, restores pentobarbital lethal injection

The Justice Department on Friday directed the Bureau of Prisons to include firing squads and pentobarbital lethal injections among approved federal execution methods, according to a DOJ memo obtained by Fox News and reported separately by the Associated Press. The announcement marks the first time the federal government has included the firing squad in its own execution protocols, according to the Death Penalty Information Center.

Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche issued a statement saying the prior administration "failed in its duty to protect the American people by refusing to pursue and carry out the ultimate punishment against the most dangerous criminals, including terrorists, child murderers, and cop killers." He said the department is "once again enforcing the law and standing with victims."

The pentobarbital protocol had originally been adopted by then-Attorney General Bill Barr during Trump's first term to replace a three-drug combination last used in the 2000s. Attorney General Merrick Garland withdrew it in the final days of the Biden administration after a government review found "significant uncertainty" about whether pentobarbital causes unnecessary pain and suffering. The Trump administration released a report Friday stating the Biden administration "got the standard and the science wrong," and that the evidence shows a person injected with pentobarbital "quickly loses consciousness—rendering him unable to experience pain."