Fox News Legal Analyst Calls for Christa Pike to Face Firing Squad After Death Row Inmate Survived Two Lethal Injections
A Fox News legal analyst says Christa Pike should face a firing squad.
Oct. 1 2026, Published 2:44 p.m. ET
A Fox News legal analyst had a startling suggestion if Tennessee decides to "go back and try again" after the botched lethal injection of Christa Pike, RadarOnline.com can report – use a firing squad instead.
Pike's execution was halted after she was still breathing following two unsuccessful doses of the lethal drug pentobarbital.
John Yoo Takes Aim at Christa Pike's Botched Execution
Christa Pike's lethal injection was botched when she survived two doses of a fatal drug.
Pike was scheduled to become the first woman executed in Tennessee in more than 200 years. But that all changed after her defective procedure, which ended with her being rushed to the hospital still alive.
While many death penalty opponents are demanding Pike be spared more pain, conservative legal analyst John Yoo offered a "try, try again" approach while speaking with Dana Perino on America’s Newsroom.
"The thing here is that Tennessee is trying to use what is considered the most humane method of capital punishment, which is lethal injection, Yoo said. "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."
'Cruel and Unusual Punishment'
John Yoo suggested a 'far more hurtful' method.
The last execution by firing squad in the United States took place on November 14, 2025, when Stephen Bryant was put to death at the Broad River Correctional Institution in South Carolina. Before that, only three other inmates have faced a firing squad since 1977, all of them in Utah, with the last coming in 2010.
Online, Yoo's suggestion received a mixed reaction.
"Wow. Every time I tell myself we aren't a cruel country, something pops up," one person commented on X, as another called the method "the textbook definition of cruel and unusual punishment."
A third person argued, "There are multiple reasons why they don't use firing squads – from the fact that they often miss the critical area they're supposed to be shooting (or) they also traumatize the shooters."
An 'Appropriate' Punishment
Only four firing squads have been formed since 1977.
However, others were in favor of a kill crew with guns, reasoning Pike's 19-year-old victim suffered a far more gruesome fate.
"If we’re gonna have capital punishment it should be swift and violent, not this sanitized version to make everyone feel comfortable with it," one person posted, mocking, "They just fall asleep."
Another person added, "We didn't have this problem until we had to make a killers own death (never mind what their victims went through) as humane & painless as possible."
While a third person reasoned, "Firing squad should be the method. Cheap, 100% effective and an appropriate level of violence when executing killers."
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Christa Pike in Critical Condition in a Hospital
Pike was taken to a hospital after the botched execution attempt.
As Radar reported, after administering a double dose of the pentobarbital, Pike was still alive. At one point, she raised her head and described a "burning spot in her arm that felt like it was going to burst," according to witnesses.
She asked whether that was normal and whether her arm was supposed to feel that way.
Minutes later, Pike could be heard loudly snoring on a gurney. Officials ended the unsuccessful procedure and transported her to a nearby hospital, where she is in critical condition.
Pike's case marks the second botched execution in Tennessee this year, and death penalty opponents say this failure was an all-time low.
"This event is the worst we've seen and unlike any other botched execution in the modern era," Robin Maher, the executive director of the Death Penalty Information Center, said. "There is no precedent."
