Newsmax Host Bizarrely Explains How To Properly Execute Someone by Firing Squad

Rusty metal sign on worn concrete wall — Photo: Mr Doomits / Shutterstock

Greg Kelly said the quiet part out loud: if the state is going to kill, aim for the heart.

Story Snapshot

Greg Kelly said trained shooters should target the heart for a faster death.
He argued firing squads fail less than lethal injections that often break down.
He quoted a physician who says rapid blood loss brings quick unconsciousness.
Records show lethal injection has the highest botch rate; firing squad is rare.

What Kelly Said And Why It Caught Fire

Newsmax host Greg Kelly told viewers that a firing squad, done right, should aim at the heart. He said law enforcement shooters know how to hit that target and that this makes death quicker and more humane. He framed this as a direct fix to lethal injection failures that make executions slow and painful. He cited a doctor who believes a heart shot drops blood pressure so fast the brain goes dark almost at once.

Kelly’s argument rests on a blunt point: process matters. He contrasted trained shooters with execution teams that struggle to find a vein, insert lines, and push drugs on time and in dose. That is not new rhetoric. But he put the crosshairs on the central claim that results count more than optics. He said the method that ends suffering fastest is the most humane, even if it looks violent on camera.

Where The Record Supports Him—And Where It Does Not

Public data on lethal injection failures is deep and grim. States have halted executions midstream when teams could not start an intravenous line. Witnesses have reported gasping, snoring, and signs of pain after drug pushes. The Death Penalty Information Center lists many such breakdowns over decades. This warehouse of failures gives Kelly’s critique of injections strong footing, at least on reliability and speed.

Broader reporting points to a striking contrast in botch rates. A widely cited analysis summarized by national outlets says lethal injection has the highest rate of botched executions in modern U.S. history. The same coverage notes that firing squad events are few, but reported as fast and effective when executed by trained shooters. That record bolsters the claim that injections fail more often, though it also flags the small sample size for squads.

The Limits Of The “Aim At The Heart” Promise

Kelly’s confidence depends on execution teams that shoot with precision, under pressure, every time. History warns against that certainty. Accounts exist of firing-squad bullets missing the direct heart target, with fatal hits landing in the liver and other organs instead. Those errors turn a quick drop into a slower death and undercut the idea that squads are foolproof. Method choice cannot erase human error; it shifts where error shows up.

Kelly also leaned on one doctor’s humane claim. The physiology makes sense in theory: a burst to the heart, pressure collapse, blackout. But television claims are not a peer-reviewed study. The record lacks a modern, controlled comparison of time to unconsciousness and observed suffering across methods. That gap leaves room for debate and for critics who oppose all executions to dismiss the claim as moral cover for a violent act.

What Conservative Common Sense Says To Do Next

The state owes the public two things at once: justice that fits the law and procedures that do not torture. Taxpayers should not fund chaotic, stop-and-start injections that look sterile but break down in practice. If leaders keep a death penalty, they should demand transparent protocols that produce quick, certain outcomes and allow real oversight. Publishing shooter training standards, target diagrams, and contingency steps would show serious intent and respect for the public’s trust.

Legislators should also require independent medical reviews after every execution. Measure time to unconsciousness. Record placement and damage. Log any deviation from plan. Release summaries that protect privacy but show results. If firing squads truly end life faster with less visible suffering, that record will prove it. If they do not, the data will expose that too. Facts, not vibes, should drive a method that carries the full weight of the state.

The Bottom Line Voters Should Keep In Mind

Kelly dragged the debate out of the lab and onto the range. He challenged a ritual that often fails behind closed doors, with needles and euphemisms. He put forward a test simple enough for any citizen jury: pick the method that ends it fast and gets it right. The public record on lethal injection supports that test. The thin record on firing squads cannot finish it. States that keep capital punishment owe the country proof, not posture.