South-Carolina

SC inmate to die by firing squad. Is the ‘barbaric’ method making a comeback?

Published

9 months ago

March 6, 2025

SC inmate to die by firing squad. Is the ‘barbaric’ method making a comeback?

A South Carolina inmate is set to die by firing squad Friday, a rare execution method in the United States that experts say may be making a comeback in more states as lethal injection drugs become harder to obtain.

Brad Keith Sigmon, 67, will be executed for the 2001 beating deaths of his ex-girlfriend’s parents, David and Gladys Larke.

Death row inmates in the state can choose how they die or be given the default option, the state’s over 100-year-old electric chair. Sigmon’s attorney, Gerald “Bo” King, said in a statement his client made the best choice he could given the “monstrous” alternatives.

Death by firing squad has been used as an execution method for nearly as long as firearms have existed, and it is still used by countries around the world, Deborah Denno, a Fordham University law professor, told USA TODAY. But in the U.S., firing squads have not been widely used since they were supplanted in popularity by another archaic method, hanging, in the mid-19th century, Denno said.

In recent years, South Carolina became one of five states that have legalized firing squads as an execution method, most recently Idaho in 2023.

“It’s safe to say since 1858 we’ve never had this many states adopting firing squad as a method of execution, and that’s a pretty astonishing statistic,” Denno said.

Firing squads weren’t common, even at the height of their popularity

It is believed the first execution carried out in colonial America was done by firing squad, Denno said. From 1608, when Captain George Kendall was killed, to 2002, at least 143 civilians have been executed by shooting, according to a database known as the Espy File.

Firing squads may also have been used by the military during the American Revolution and the War of 1812, but the bulk of these executions were largely confined to the Civil War, according to Mark Smith, director of the Institute for Southern Studies.

“It wasn’t terribly common during the Civil War itself, even when it was used, and it was used primarily as a public deterrent against desertion for both Union and Confederate soldiers,” said Smith, who submitted an affidavit on the history of firing squad executions in a case heard by the South Carolina Supreme Court.

Smith said less than 5% of the 26,000 Union soldiers tried for desertion were sentenced to death by firing squad, citing a 2009 book called “Confederate Death Sentences: A Reference Guide.” It’s not clear how many Confederates received the same sentence, but Smith said about 12% of the Army of Northern Virginia soldiers tried for desertion were sentenced to die by this method.

The Death Penalty Information Center says none of executions by firing squad since 1890 were botched, citing the 2014 book “Gruesome Spectacles: Botched Executions and America’s Death Penalty.” But the center notes that the Salt Lake City Tribune has reported that the executions of Wallace Wilkerson in 1879 and Eliseo J. Mares in 1951 were botched, adding that Mares was shot in the hip and abdomen and wasn’t declared dead for “several minutes.”

Firing squads remain rare, but more states could follow

In modern U.S. history, there have only been three executions by firing squad all of which took place in Utah. The state used this method to kill Ronnie Lee Gardner in 2010, John Albert Taylor in 1996 and Gary Mark Gilmore in 1977.

As lethal injection drugs have become harder to obtain, states with the death penalty have looked to expand their execution methods to firing squads and nitrogen gas, which was first used in the U.S. in January 2024 in Alabama for the execution of Kenneth Eugene Smith.

Many pharmaceutical companies do not want to publicly provide drugs used for lethal injections, former Death Penalty Information Center Deputy Director Ngozi Ndulue previously told the Mississippi Clarion Ledger, part of the USA TODAY Network. In order to resume executions in South Carolina after more than a decade, lawmakers passed a shield law to conceal the identities of those involved in executions, and the state Department of Corrections made over 1,300 inquiries to drug manufacturers, suppliers and compounding pharmacies in search of lethal drugs.

Idaho, Mississippi and Oklahoma also allow death by firing squad, though lethal injection remains the primary method, according to the Death Penalty Information Center. But a bill working its way through the Idaho Legislature following the failed lethal injection of Thomas Creech could make firing squads the state’s primary form of capital punishment and others may follow suit, Denno said.

How do firing squad executions work?

The South Carolina Department of Corrections previously told USA TODAY the inmate will be restrained in a metal chair in the corner of a room shared by the state’s electric chair, according to the state’s protocols. The firing squad will include three volunteers from the corrections staff who will stand behind a wall with loaded rifles 15 feet from the inmate.

The wall will have an opening that won’t be visible from the witness room, and bullet-resistant glass has been installed between the death chamber and the witness room. Witnesses typically include family of both the inmate and victim, news media, attorneys and prison staff.”The inmate will be strapped into the chair, and a hood will be placed over his head,” the department said. “A small aim point will be placed over his heart by a member of the execution team. After the warden reads the execution order, the team will fire. After the shots, a doctor will examine the inmate. After the inmate is declared dead, the curtain will be drawn and witnesses escorted out.”

Reporters who witnessed Gardner’s execution in 2010 said five volunteer prison staff members fired at him from about 25 feet away with .30-caliber rifles, aiming at a target pinned over his chest as he sat in a chair, ABC News reported. One of the rifles had a blank so none of the volunteers knew whether they fired a fatal bullet, according to ABC. Gardner was pronounced dead within two minutes after the shots were fired.

Denno said at least one execution, which took place in Nevada in 1913, used a machine to pull the trigger instead of human executioners. Idaho Department of Correction spokesperson Sanda Kuzeta-Cerimagic said the agency is considering using “a remote-operated weapons system alongside traditional firing squad methods.”

Should firing squads still be legal?

The South Carolina Supreme Court ruled last year that the state could execute death row inmates by firing squad, the electric chair or lethal injection, but two of the justices said they felt a firing squad was not legal, the New York Times reported.

Denno said death by firing squads meet the criteria for a constitutional method of execution set by the United States Supreme Court: It’s a well-known method, unlike nitrogen hypoxia. It’s readily available, unlike some drugs used for lethal injection. And it’s effective, meaning that no one has survived a botched execution by firing squad.

While Americans may not like it, particularly given the country’s public health crisis of gun violence, Denno believes it is “the least inhumane” and “most honest” form of capital punishment.

“If I were going to have to choose, I would choose firing squad. There’s no question about that,” Denno said. But at the same time, she added: “It is a barbaric method. It’s associated with war time, it’s associated with on the street killings, and it’s associated with how they kill in countries that we would not want to share an association with, and it is associated with interpersonal violence in this country.”

Smith said that he can understand why an inmate would choose the firing squad believing it to be more effective and immediate than the alternatives. But he said Americans who witnessed such executions during the Civil War often described them as ghoulish, and shots sometimes had to be fired more than once to ensure the person was dead.

Though modern firing squad executions will look very different than their 19th century counterparts, Smith said “what we’re doing today is a throwback to something that was considered unusual and cruel during the hardest part of American history, and I’m not sure where that really places us today.”

Contributing: Amanda Lee Myers, USA TODAY

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South-Carolina

Nancy Mace’s foul-mouthed airport tirades roil race for South Carolina governorship as rival slams ‘spoiled brat’

Published

20 hours ago

December 13, 2025

Press Room

Nancy Mace’s foul-mouthed airport tirades roil race for South Carolina governorship as rival slams ‘spoiled brat’

New disclosures of a foul-mouthed tirade by Rep. Nancy Mace in the Charleston airport have roiled the South Carolina governor’s race and ignited angry accusations between the lawmaker and one of her competitors in the Republican primary.

Her rival, state AG Alan Wilson, called Mace a “spoiled brat” who treats cops like “servants,” at a time when the two of them are furiously competing for support from voters – and President Trump.

Mace back in August called herself “Trump in high heels” and acknowledged “I would really like his support for governor.” So far, Trump hasn’t given it – to anybody.

Mace this week slammed an internal Charleston Airport Authority investigation that probed her profanity-laced “spectacle” Oct. 30, when Mace chewed out police officers and TSA agents over expedited security for her outbound flight, after a planned VIP escort fell through.

New details are still coming to light – including an earlier incident in April where Mace allegedly blew up at agents who wouldn’t let her bring a family member through expedited security, according to the investigation report.

“This is the only airport that gives me s–t,” she complained, according to one of the numerous law enforcement officers interviewed as part of the probe.

The investigative report was obtained by The Post through a public documents request.

One interviewed TSA agent quotes Mace as telling a cop following the botched Oct. 30 escort for her arrival at an airport gate, “I’m sick of your s–t, I’m tired of having to wait.”

Another officer, an explosives tech, described Mace as being “very nasty, very rude.” She said she could hear Mace calling police officers “f–king idiots” and “f–king incompetent” and stating that she was a “f–king representative.”

Yet the airport was “not busy at all” at the time of the incident, the officer said.

A TSA agent said during the interaction Mace “literally was on that phone talking and texting her life away” as well as “saying rude things,” according to the investigative report.

One TSA officer who had been at the airport 23 years told investigators “every VIP or whomever, dignitary, that we’ve been across and had to deal with, we never, never had this problem.”

Mace hired an attorney and threatened weeks ago to sue the airport over the October incident, but has yet to do so.

The report revealed the April confrontation when agents wouldn’t let Mace bring a family member through expedited security. TSA later let her take family members with her when she got screened.

“I thought that the way she acted showed a sense of entitlement – [that] she is entitled to special protection, she is entitled to special treatment. When she doesn’t get special treatment, she throws a tantrum. To me that harkens back to a child not getting their way,” Wilson told The Post in an interview.

“These are public servants, not personal servants,” he said of law enforcement at the airport.

Mace told CNN in an interview this week the report had been “falsified,” without providing evidence. In response to Wilson’s “brat” comment, she wrote: “Imagine being ‘Attorney General’ and flying 500 miles for the sole purpose of dismissing death threats against a single mom.”

She told The Post she has received numerous credible death threats, and said on Friday a judge denied bond to a man accused of making online threats against her. She said during the April incident TSA had violated its own policy allowing federal officials to bring a guest and separated her from her child.

Mace has been taking her case to the airwaves in a week where she trashed the House Republican leadership in a Washington Post op-ed.

A consultant to Mace’s campaign, Austin McCubbin, resigned Dec. 1, accusing her of turning her back on MAGA and trying to “hug the political cactus that is the [Sen.] Rand Paul [and Rep.] Thomas Massie wing of the Party.”

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South-Carolina

A Stronger Rail Network Is a Win for South Carolina’s Economy – FITSNews

Published

1 day ago

December 12, 2025

Press Room

A Stronger Rail Network Is a Win for South Carolina’s Economy – FITSNews

“The combined rail system would offer the reliability our business community has been asking for…”

by NATHAN BALLENTINE

***

For as long as I’ve served in the South Carolina House, I’ve believed that strong infrastructure is the backbone of a strong economy. Whether talking about roads, bridges, broadband, or freight mobility, our ability to efficiently move people and goods determines how competitive our state will be in the decades ahead. South Carolina continues to grow at one of the fastest rates in the country, and with that growth comes a responsibility to ensure our logistics network can meet the demands of modern commerce.

That is why the proposed merger between Union Pacific (UP) and Norfolk Southern (NS) deserves thoughtful consideration, not just at the national level, but here at home. South Carolina’s economic success is directly tied to reliable freight transportation. From advanced manufacturing in the Upstate, to the distribution and warehousing centers in the Midlands, to the countless businesses that depend on steady supply chains, every region of our state relies on a freight system that works smoothly and predictably.

When freight rail is fragmented across multiple networks, bottlenecks and delays become far more common. Businesses, especially those operating with tight production schedules and narrow delivery windows, feel the impacts immediately. A delayed railcar can throw off inventory planning, disrupt operations, and create ripple effects that stretch across an entire supply chain. These unpredictable slowdowns can be enormously costly for the companies that keep South Carolina’s economy moving.

***

The Union Pacific–Norfolk Southern merger aims to address many of these longstanding challenges. By creating a unified network connecting more than 50,000 miles of track and linking 43 states with over 100 ports nationwide, the combined rail system would offer something our business community has been asking for: reliability. Studies indicate the merger could generate approximately $1 billion in annual cost savings and improve freight-car velocity by around 10 percent. These aren’t abstract figures, they reflect tangible improvements that would strengthen operations for employers, distributors, retailers, and consumers alike.

***

“Economic development teams would also have an even stronger pitch when attracting new employers to South Carolina…”

***

A more dependable rail network means companies can plan with greater precision, suppliers can manage logistics with fewer surprises, and transportation partners can commit to schedules with increased confidence. Economic development teams would also have an even stronger pitch when attracting new employers to South Carolina: not just a skilled workforce and business-friendly climate, but a transportation network capable of supporting long-term growth.

Improved rail performance also benefits South Carolina’s infrastructure more broadly. Rail is one of the most efficient ways to move goods long distances. Every shipment that travels by rail instead of truck reduces congestion on our highways, lowers fuel costs, and decreases wear and tear on roads that taxpayers ultimately fund. Better rail capacity complements, rather than replaces, our ongoing efforts to invest in roads and bridges across the state. It allows us to stretch transportation dollars further and focus on the improvements most needed in fast-growing communities.

Another important factor is competitiveness. States across the Southeast are aggressively investing in logistics infrastructure to position themselves as national leaders in manufacturing and distribution. If South Carolina wants to stay ahead, and continue attracting companies that create stable, high-quality jobs, we must support improvements that strengthen the reliability and efficiency of our freight network. The Union Pacific–Norfolk Southern merger presents an opportunity to do just that.

***

RELATED | SOURCES: S.C. LAWMAKERS THREATEN SUPREME COURT

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As someone who has spent nearly two decades advocating for responsible, forward-looking growth in our state, I believe that modernizing our freight system is not just a transportation issue, it is an economic necessity. Ensuring that goods can move quickly, safely, and predictably is fundamental to the success of our businesses and the financial well-being of South Carolina families.

Federal regulators will ultimately determine the path forward, and their review should be thorough and transparent. But from where I sit, the potential benefits to our state are clear. A more integrated, efficient rail system will help South Carolina businesses compete, help consumers by keeping costs lower, and help our state maintain the strong economic momentum we’ve built over the past decade.

A stronger rail network means a stronger South Carolina, and that is a future we should fully support.

***

ABOUT THE AUTHOR…

Nathan Ballentine represents the citizens of House District 71 in the S.C. General Assembly.

***

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South-Carolina

LIVE: SC AG Alan Wilson, state, national leaders hold press conference on statewide drug busts

Published

2 days ago

December 12, 2025

Press Room

LIVE: SC AG Alan Wilson, state, national leaders hold press conference on statewide drug busts

Statehouse Reporter Mary Green will have more on this tonight.

COLUMBIA, S.C. (WIS) – South Carolina Attorney General and other officials will be holding a press conference Friday at 9:30 a.m. to talk about statewide drug busts.

Wilson is set to be joined by South Carolina Law Enforcement Division Chief Mark Keel, representatives from the Drug Enforcement Administration and Homeland Security, as well as several local sheriffs and other law enforcement partners.

Watch the full press conference in the video above.

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