The U.S. Executed a Man by Firing Squad. Demand an End to the Death Penalty Now.

South Carolina just executed a man by firing squad. This violent state-sponsored killing is a horrifying reminder of the brutality of the death penalty - a punishment that still exists in most U.S. states.

This does not belong in a modern justice system. Sign the petition to demand an end to the death penalty in the U.S.

Even worse, Brad Sigmon was actually forced to choose how the state would kill him: by being electrocuted in a chair, chemically suffocated by lethal injection, or shot to death. Why did he choose a firing squad? Because, given the options, this violent manner actually seemed less traumatic to him, by comparison. No person should have to make such a grotesque choice, and no civilized society should allow it.

Warning: disturbing details follow.

Sigmon's execution was not swift, painless, or humane. He was strapped into a chair, forced to wear a hood, and marked with a target on his chest. Witnesses flinched as gunshots rang out from three volunteer executioners, watching his body convulse as bullets ripped through him. His arms tensed, he gasped for air, muscles peaked out of his wound, and a red stain spread across his chest before he finally died.

This was not justice - it was a spectacle of suffering. And it will happen again unless we take action now. The state of South Carolina has made clear that it will continue this barbaric practice, with executions planned every five weeks. There are still 28 people on death row, awaiting a fate that no human being should endure.

The death penalty is not only cruel and inhumane, but it is also deeply flawed. Innocent people have been executed, and the system is riddled with errors. On top of that, racial and economic disparities plague the U.S. policing system, court verdicts, and judges' sentencing choices. Even former executioners have come forward to say the death penalty is nothing more than legalized torture.

We must demand an end to this outdated and immoral punishment. Sign this petition to call for an immediate halt to all executions and to demand that lawmakers abolish the death penalty in the U.S. once and for all.