US activist critical of Trump's impact on executions

Leading US anti-death penalty activist Sister Helen Prejean has strongly criticized former President Donald Trump, accusing him of using violent rhetoric and seeking to increase executions. The 87-year-old Catholic nun expressed particular disapproval of Trump's decision during his first term to end a 17-year moratorium on federal executions.

“

Within those six months he had them all killed - 13 of them. His decision alone. And he has set a tone in the country, because he's always calling for people to be executed.

"Within those six months [at the end of his presidency] he had them all killed - 13 of them. His decision alone. And he has set a tone in the country, because he's always calling for people to be executed," Sister Helen told RTÉ's This Week. She has witnessed eight executions and knows some of the 13 individuals killed on Trump's orders.

Sister Helen highlighted what she described as racism intertwined with executions, noting that states with high execution rates are often former slave states. "It makes a huge difference on who's killed. And overwhelmingly it's about white victims," she stated. She also condemned Alabama's new nitrogen suffocation execution method as brutal, despite prison authorities' attempts to mask its cruelty.

“

You can't get around it that the death penalty is torture, which is an extreme mental and physical assault on someone rendered defenceless.

The activist also discussed the Catholic Church's shift on capital punishment, noting that Pope Francis and Pope Leo have articulated an abolitionist message. She contrasted this with a recent statement by US Defense Secretary Peter Hegseth, who asked Pentagon workers to pray for "overwhelming violence" against Iran, calling it a "perversion of the gospel of Jesus."

“

If you look at the pattern in the United States, the states that have done over 70% of the executions are the ex slave states. Because racism is so baked into the death penalty. It makes a huge difference on who's killed. And overwhelmingly it's about white victims.

Sister Helen praised Ireland as a "gleaming beam of light" for abolishing the death penalty and educating its citizens. She believes Irish visitors to the US act as "diplomats and ambassadors for peace."

“

It's such a perversion of the gospel of Jesus.