Alabama Kills Kenneth Smith In First-Ever Nitrogen Gas Execution

Alabama carried out the first-ever execution by nitrogen gas Thursday, killing 58-year-old Kenneth Smith just over a year after he survived a failed lethal injection.

Smith “appeared to shake and writhe on the gurney, sometimes pulling on the restraints” for at least two minutes, followed by several minutes of heavy breathing, according to The Associated Press. He was pronounced dead at 8:25 p.m. local time.

“Tonight Alabama causes humanity to take a step backwards,” Smith said in his final statement, according to media witnesses. “Thank you for supporting me. Love you all.”

In Smith’s final days, his lawyers had asked the Supreme Court to block the execution. They argued that the second attempt to kill Smith — with an untested mechanism, before he had exhausted state court appeals, and while he was still experiencing symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder from the first attempt — would violate Eighth Amendment protections against cruel and unusual punishment.

The court denied the request, with the three liberal justices, Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan and Ketanji Brown Jackson dissenting. The conservative majority did not provide a written explanation for the decision.

“Having failed to kill Smith on its first attempt, Alabama has selected him as its ‘guinea pig’ to test a method of execution never attempted before,” Sotomayor wrote in her dissent. “The world is watching.”

“Twice now this Court has ignored Smith’s warning that Alabama will subject him to an unconstitutional risk of pain. The first time, Smith’s predictions came true,” Sotomayor said. “This time, he predicts that Alabama’s protocol will cause him to suffocate and choke to death on his own vomit. I sincerely hope that he is not proven correct a