JUST IN: DOJ Brings Back Firing Squads For Federal Executions

The Justice Department said Friday it is moving to revive firing squads and reinstate lethal injection as part of a broader push to ramp up the federal death penalty. Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche has approved pursuing death sentences against nine defendants after the department scrapped a Biden-era pause on federal executions, officials said. “Among the actions ‌taken are ⁠readopting the lethal injection protocol utilized during ⁠the first Trump Administration, expanding the protocol to include additional manners of execution such ‌as the firing squad, and streamlining internal processes to expedite death penalty cases,” the Justice Department said in ‌a statement. “These steps are critical to deterring the most barbaric crimes, ‌delivering justice for victims, and providing long-o