The US Army is drawing up plans to carry out four military executions of death row inmates for the first time in more than 50 years, pending approval from President Donald Trump
The US Army is preparing to conduct four executions should President Donald Trump issue the command, according to an internal planning document seen by ABC News.
The plan, if implemented, would represent the first occasion the military has executed convicted American prisoners in more than half a century. “Operation Resolute Justice” instructs Army officials to liaise with the Federal Bureau of Prisons to move condemned inmates from the US Disciplinary Barracks at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, to the federal execution facility in Terre Haute, Indiana.
During Trump’s first term, the Justice Department undertook a series of non-military federal executions at that location. The US military has not executed a service member since 1961. Army spokesperson Cynthia Smith said the service routinely undertakes planning exercises for executions, in anticipation of directives from the White House.
“Exercises regarding this operation have been conducted regularly for the past 20 years. These drills are a standard component of our continued planning and preparation if the president approves a death sentence,” Smith told ABC News, adding that the service has not yet received an order from the president, reports the Mirror US.
Military courts can hand down the death sentence, but presidential authorisation is required before any execution can take place. The White House did not respond to ABC’s request for comment. Internally, the Army has instructed multiple Army divisions to prepare for and enable executions “no later than 150 days from the date of presidential approval of the death sentences.”
The instruction sets out timetables for progress meetings and protocols for undertaking executions should Trump authorise them. It also covers how the Army would handle public announcements relating to an execution.
Executions of death row inmates have nearly doubled since Trump returned to office. In April, Trump’s Department of Justice instructed federal prisons to widen the range of techniques used for executions, to include firing squads, gas asphyxiation and electrocution.
In a 48-page memo, the department stated that this expansion would “strengthen” the death penalty, “deterring the most barbaric crimes, delivering justice for victims and providing long-overdue closure to surviving loved ones.”
They also stated in an accompanying report that by widening the methods of capital punishment, it “will help ensure the department is prepared to carry out lawful executions even if a specific drug is unavailable.”
The substantial increase in federal executions followed the Biden administration implementing a moratorium. Additionally, there were no federal executions under President Barack Obama.
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