John Yoo Tells Fox News ‘Why Not Use the Firing Squad’ on Christa Pike After Botched Execution

Conservative analyst John Yoo said Tennessee will need to “go back and try again” after the botched execution of Christa Pike this week, recommending what he called a “more hurtful” method.

Yoo joined Dana Perino on America’s Newsroom on Thursday after Tennessee authorities paused all scheduled executions after they failed to execute Christa Pike on Wednesday after two rounds of pentobarbital. The 50-year-old was still breathing when witnesses were escorted out of the area.

Yoo explained that Tennessee will ultimately need to “go back” and carry out the execution again.

He said:

The Constitution and the Eighth Amendment says states can’t use cruel and unusual punishment. The Constitution also says that states can use the death penalty. So states have the right to carry out capital punishment if the laws permit it but can’t do it in a cruel and inhumane way. So actually the thing here is that Tennessee is trying to use what is considered the most humane method of capital punishment, which is lethal injection. The court has allowed, and Tennessee could use far more I would think hurtful methods like firing squad. Firing squad’s have been permitted and, in fact, I think the lawyers have said why not use the firing squad? So I think what will have to happen is Tennessee is going to have to go back and try again, perfect these methods, or use some other kind of execution method.

Pike was scheduled to be the first female executed in Tennessee since 1820. Pike was convicted of the murder of a 19-year-old classmate in 1995.

Media witnesses have come forward to describe the scene of Pike’s botched execution, where she at one point began asking about a throbbing pain in her head. She was administered a second set of syringes, as per protocol, after the first round did not work.

“They went through two rounds, and she was still breathing at the end, it was very ragged, she lifted her head up and was looking around at one point. She said there was a spot that was burning and hurting and asked if that was normal,” WPLN’s Catherine Sweeney said afterward.

Watch above via Fox News.

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