Executions to go ahead as Trump ignores Kim plea
DONALD TRUMP’S White House is planning an ‘unprecedented’ five federal executions before he leaves office next month. The outgoing US president intends to ignore a 130-year tradition of pausing executions during a transition period.
It would also mean 13 prisoners have been put to death death since Mr Trump ended a 17-year hiatus in federal executions in July – a modern record. This is despite calls for clemency, including an appeal from reality TV star Kim Kardashian on behalf of inmate Brandon Bernard, who was due to be executed by lethal injection last night over a double murder more than 20 years ago. Bernard was 18 when he and four other teenage gang members robbed and shot a religious couple in Texas. He did not pull the trigger of the gun that killed them and was convicted as an accomplice. Defence lawyers have argued
Brandon Bernard, 40, was convicted for the 1999 kidnap and murder of two youth ministers, Todd and Stacie Bagley. He was scheduled for execution overnight, amid calls for clemency due to his age at the time of the crime.
the remorseful 40-year-old was a minor member of the gang, with one of the prosecutors and some of the jurors who convicted him among those pleading for a rethink.
Kardashian tweeted: ‘Having gotten to know Brandon, I am heartbroken about this execution. I’m calling on @realDonaldTrump to grant Brandon a commutation and allow him to live out his sentence in prison.’
The Justice Department has refused to delay his execution, along with another scheduled for today and three more in January.
It comes just weeks before Joe Biden, who has pledged to end federal executions, is sworn in as president. Mr Trump was ‘incredibly proud of his administration’s commitment to capital punishment, and wishes to get as many of these done before his time in office is up’, a White House source told The Daily Beast website. The source added: ‘He gets visibly excited when he talks about the “justice” he’s able to bring to victims’ families.’
Earlier this month, US attorney general William Barr defended executions during the transition period, saying the government was upholding the law and the wishes of juries. ‘I think the way to stop the death penalty is to repeal the death penalty,’ he said.