Alabama has made history by executing a death row inmate using nitrogen gas, a method that had never been tested before. Kenneth Smith, 58, was declared dead at 8.25pm on Thursday at an Alabama prison after inhaling pure nitrogen gas through a face mask. The execution lasted about 22 minutes. Alabama officials claimed that the new method was the most humane way of execution, but eyewitness reports suggested otherwise. According to Marty Roney of the Montgomery Advertiser, Smith appeared to be struggling for his life during the execution. The Rev Jeff Hood, Smith’s spiritual adviser, described the execution as “minutes of someone struggling for their life.” The execution was initially scheduled to begin at 6pm but was delayed as the US Supreme Court weighed his final appeal. Justice Sonia Sotomayor, along with two other liberal justices, dissented, stating that Alabama had selected Smith as a “guinea pig” to test a new method of execution. Smith’s lawyers had argued that the untried conditions violated constitutional protections against cruelty. Smith was also subjected to an execution procedure once before, making him a rare survivor of an execution. The new death protocol involved placing an industrial-style respirator mask over the prisoner’s head and then forcing him to breathe pure nitrogen, leading to fatal oxygen deprivation.
Source from www.theguardian.com