Department of Justice Rules Convicted Murderers Can Be Executed by Firing Squad

President Donald Trump‘s Department of Justice is following his vow to get tougher on crime by ruling that murderers convicted under federal law can now be executed by firing squad while also promising to cut appeals that delay putting condemned killers to death for decades.

The new push for executions by firing squad and also use of the formerly barred drug pentobarbital for lethal injections is part of the DOJ’s stricter policy under Trump to reinstall harsher measures previously banned as cruel by President Joe Biden, Fox News Digital reported.

“The prior administration failed in its duty to protect the American people by refusing to pursue and carry out the ultimate punishment against the most dangerous criminals, including terrorists, child murderers and cop killers,” said Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche, per the outlet.

The DOJ says the addition of the death penalty method was aimed “to restore its solemn duty to seek, obtain and implement lawful capital sentences — clearing the way for the department to carry out executions once death-sentenced inmates have exhausted their appeals.

“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.”

Currently, five states — Idaho, Mississippi, Oklahoma, South Carolina and Utah — allow executions by firing squad, per Associated Press.

South Carolina carried out three that way last year.

Trump officials also slam Biden’s moves during his presidency to be more lenient toward wrongdoers, and are in line with Trump’s vow by executive order the first day of his current term “to ensure that the laws that authorize capital punishment are respected and faithfully implemented,” Fox News Digital reported.

The DOJ also is pushing for a policy to speed up executions by reducing the amount of time — often decades — that inmates can avoid their end with appeals.

The department says the new measures “are critical to deterring the most barbaric crimes, delivering justice for victims, and providing long-overdue closure to surviving loved ones.”