Death Row Revolt: Plentiful Gas Companies Urged to Cut Off Supply in Alabama in Bid to Halt Nitrogen Executions

A national fight over nitrogen may be developing, beginning in Alabama. The reason involves a convicted murderer.

Knewz.com has learned opponents of the death penalty are filing lawsuits to stop the state from purchasing nitrogen gas for future executions.

Kenneth Smith was killed by nitrogen gas 26 years after he was convicted of murder. By: Doc.Alabama.gov and MEGA.

Kenneth Smith became the first U.S. inmate to die from nitrogen gas Thursday, January 25. Knewz.com reported that followed a wide range of complaints, including the experimental nature of the gas.

With no side effects reported on other people from Smith’s execution, which Knewz.com noted in December was a fear of his spiritual adviser, Alabama state officials say they want to use nitrogen gas for other executions.

So death penalty opponents are trying a different tactic: convincing companies that make the gas to refuse to provide it for “nitrogen hypoxia” executions. They’ve used a similar method to fight lethal injections.

The Alabama Department of Corrections has not publicly disclosed where it obtained the gas that killed Smith. Federal court filings attempting to save Smith’s life had that detail redacted.

Cans of nitrogen gas are sold for a wide range of uses. By: MEGA

It apparently was not AirGas, which has announced it will not supply the gas for emptying death row.

“Supplying nitrogen for the purpose of human execution is not consistent with our company values,” an email statement from the French-owned company to the Associated Press and WALA-TV said.

But numerous companies produce and sell nitrogen gas, compared with drugs for lethal injections. A Knewz.com check Sunday, February 18 found it’s even sold by Temu.

Nitrogen gas can inflate flat tires. It’s also used in welding and manufacturing.

Failing that, death penalty opponents are pointing to what happened after Smith inhaled the gas. He went into convulsions for several minutes before he died.

Kenneth Smith’s convulsions made the death penalty gurney move, eyewitnesses say. By: Twitter/@Tim Hogan

They claim the convulsions prove nitrogen gas is “cruel and unusual punishment,” violating the Eighth Amendment of the United States Constitution.

Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall says death row inmates will retain the choice of how they would like to die. Out of 164 current inmates awaiting execution, he says more than 40 opted for the gas.

Smith actually chose nitrogen gas first in 2022, but the state challenged it in the courts and won. That led to an attempt to use lethal injection which was botched.

But a lawsuit filed Thursday, February 15 by another Alabama death row inmate argues the same thing happened in January. It claims Smith’s death was “a human experiment that officials botched miserably” and “cannot be allowed to be repeated.”

The lawsuit was filed on behalf of David Wilson, who awaits execution on two murder counts stemming from a 2004 burglary.

David Wilson, 39, was sentenced to death in Alabama in 2008. By: Doc.Alabama.gov

It says the state expected Smith to die “within seconds,” which media witnesses agree did not happen.

But Marshall calls Smith’s death “textbook”. The movements by Smith were “expected and was in the side effects that we’ve seen or researched,” state Corrections Commissioner John Q. Hamm said.

Mississippi and Oklahoma also have legalized nitrogen gas executions. In Oklahoma, it is a backup plan in case something blocks the use of lethal injections.

Knewz.com reported in recent days on a legal fight in South Carolina to resume executions. While a firing squad would be one option, nitrogen gas is not.

The Death Penalty Information Center reports the next scheduled U.S. executions are Wednesday, February 28 in Idaho and Texas. No new executions have been scheduled in Alabama.