Anti-death penalty advocates rally against Idaho’s firing squad protocol in virtual press conference
BOISE, Idaho (KIFI) — As Idaho returns to the firing squad as the primary method of execution, a group of national advocates is pushing back against state-sanctioned capital punishment, stating "there is no clean way to take a human life."
Today, anti-death penalty advocates Execution Intervention Project and Clergy United Against the Death Penalty are hosting a virtual press conference to address Idaho's return to the firing squad as the primary method of execution. As part of the briefing, the groups unveiled a new billboard in Boise on Grove Street, near the 1500 Block, bearing a direct message to state leaders: "Don't Shoot Tom Creech."
The press conference will be available in the livestream above at 10 a.m. MT.
Joining the advocacy campaign is spiritual advisor Rev. Dr. Jeff Hood, who has witnessed 12 state executions across the country. Hood joined national organizers to examine Idaho's new execution method and demand that state officials refrain from carrying out firing squad deaths in the Gem State.
"There is no clean way to take a human life. For centuries, we have tried to prove otherwise, refining the rope, the chair, the chamber, and the needle. Each new method is sold as swifter and more humane than the last," argued Rev. Dr. Hood in a statement. "Each time, the promise breaks the same way: killing does not become cleaner. It only becomes better disguised."
Hood argued that execution failures across various methods reveal a fundamental flaw in state-sanctioned capital punishment.
"Every method eventually shows its seams: an inmate who was not unconscious, a witness who looked away, a team member who could not sleep. That is not bad luck or simply a flawed protocol. It is the truth of the horror breaking through the disguise," Hood added. "Idaho is not creating a new solution. Idaho is inheriting a century and a half of promises that the state can make killing humane. History has already answered that question."
Botched Execution Leads Idaho to Adopt Firing Squad
The state’s pivot toward the firing squad stems directly from a failed attempt to execute serial killer Thomas Eugene Creech by lethal injection
In February 2024, state officials halted Creech’s execution after a three-member medical team tried eight separate times to establish an intravenous line for lethal injection. Following the incident, the Idaho Legislature backed House Bill 37 to establish the firing squad as a primary alternative.
Creech, 73, has spent half a century in prison. He was originally convicted of five murders across three states and is suspected of several more. He was sentenced to death for the 1981 beating death of fellow inmate David Dale Jensen, 22, while already serving a life term.
According to the Idaho Department of Correction, there are currently 8 people on death row in the Gem State.
Despite vocal pushback from anti-death penalty organizations, they face an uphill battle in the Gem State. According to a 2024 poll by the Public Religion Research Institute, around 70% of Idahoans support the death penalty. Meanwhile, national public opinion in support of capital punishment has waned. According to a 2025 Gallup poll, only 52% of Americans support the death penalty, down 9% from 2015.
