The prison commissioner in the southern US state of Tennessee has resigned over the failed execution of convicted murderer Christa Pike, Governor Bill Lee has said.
Page F118From§Eachthe morning edition — 13 October 2026
Speaker says he just wouldn't watch the execution the UN already warned is torture.
As it ran on the front
The language is public record, so let's read it back in order. On October 9, the United Nations' top human rights expert told reporters that broadcasting a federal execution live "is tantamount to a public execution" and would breach the "absolute prohibition" on torture. The same day, the Guardian carried the word "medieval" from rights advocates describing the Pentagon's confirmed plan to livestream the execution of Nidal Hasan, convicted of killing thirteen people at Fort Hood in 2009. The plan did not change.
It did not change a few days later, either, when the House Speaker offered his own review of a program he is not ordering and cannot cancel. "I wouldn't be watching," Mike Johnson told reporters, asking the President to reconsider showing the execution to the public. That is the Speaker's contribution to a broadcast the UN has already filed under torture: not a legal objection, a scheduling one. He will not be tuning in.…
…(cont) Sgt. Alonzo Lunsford, who survived the shooting the execution answers, gave his own account that same week, on NewsNation's "Katie Pavlich Tonight." He said he is "excited about the firing squad." Nothing in the filings says anyone asked him before the plan was announced.
Set the three statements side by side and the gap is the story. The UN's language is absolute: a prohibition, not a preference. The Speaker's language is personal: a channel he will not watch. The survivor's language is the only one that carries a signature from the day in 2009 the state is now scheduling a camera around, and it still arrived after the schedule, not before it.
One government is preserving the instruments. Another is preserving the broadcast slot. Both filings describe the thing that already happened as the reason to keep the equipment ready for the thing that hasn't happened yet.
The absolute prohibition is still on the page. So is the schedule. Nobody has reconciled them, hon. They are just running at the same time, in the same December, on the same decision nobody with the word "absolute" in their job title gets to make.
“They put "absolute prohibition" on one page and a release date on the next and call that a policy, not a contradiction — that's the whole trick, the rule stays on the books so they can point to it, and the camera stays on the schedule so somebody gets the ratings. Mike Johnson's entire objection is that he personally won't watch, which isn't conscience, that's just skipping a show you already know the ending of. The guy who actually survived the shooting finds out about the broadcast on cable news like the rest of us — nobody with a badge called him first, and nobody's required to.”
“Look, transparency matters here, the families deserve to see justice carried out in the open, that's just — did I say transparency? I meant the Speaker's being thoughtful, he's not against the broadcast, he's just personally opting out, like skipping the news because it's upsetting. That's not an objection, that's... actually that might be an objection. Forget I said anything.”
Earlier in this story
- Government calls its livestreamed execution optional, then a restoration of American values, then something to be happy about. By Lou · the evening edition, 11 October 2026
- Homeland Security defends livestreamed execution that no official admits ordering By Chip · the morning edition, 11 October 2026
- Pentagon confirms Fort Hood execution livestream; Trump denies involvement, then vows to decide it himself By Lou · the morning edition, 11 October 2026
- Tennessee has preserved the syringes from the execution Christa Pike survived, which is also the condition a thing is kept in when you intend to use it again. By The Wrecking Crew · the evening edition, 11 October 2026
The receipts
This represents the second failed attempt at an execution via lethal injection in Tennessee this year alone.
Christa Pike, who survived Tennessee's attempt to execute her by lethal injection, has been moved back to prison, according to a statement released by her lawyers.
The convicted murderer was left in a critical condition after she survived two lethal injections.
The UN torture rapporteur found direct-contact electric shock gloves "incompatible with the absolute prohibition of torture" — ICE plans to spend up to $20 million on them ABC10 San Diego / UN Special Rapporteur finding, August 2026
UN Says Trump-Hegseth Livestream of Execution Would Breach ‘Absolute Prohibition of Torture’As rights advocates across the US expressed horror at the Trump administration's confirmed plans to publicly broadcast the execution of Nidal Hasan, the former military psychiatrist who was convicted of killing 13 people in a mass shooting at Fort Hood in 2009, the top United Nations human rights expert warned that the public state…
Pentagon said execution of Nidal Malik Hasan, who killed 13 people at Fort Hood in 2009, would be broadcast live US politics live – latest updates The US is facing worldwide condemnation over a “barbaric” plan to execute a disabled man by firing squad and livestream it to the public, with critics comparing the Trump administration to…
“I’ve never seen anything like what we saw Wednesday night,” said one reporter who witnessed the execution attempt.
House Speaker Mike Johnson appeared to publicly nudge President Trump against having the 2009 Fort Hood shooter's execution by firing squad live-streamed for the whole world to see.
Christa Pike has been released from the hospital and is back in prison after surviving an execution attempt in Tennessee that left her unconscious and on a ventilator. Pike is on death row for the premeditated torture and murder of a college classmate in 1995. The prisoner was set to be executed on Sept.
Fort Hood massacre survivor Sgt. Alonzo Lunsford shared his complicated feelings on the planned execution of convicted shooter Nidal Hasan potentially being livestreamed in December. Appearing on The Hill’s partner network NewsNation’s “Katie Pavlich Tonight,”
Christa Pike is back at prison after surviving a botched lethal injection, but her attorneys say she still struggles with arm injuries and memory problems.
Pike’s lawyers said she is back in same prison she’s lived in for last 30 years and will continue to receive medical care Christa Pike has been discharged from the hospital after surviving Tennessee ’s botched 30 September attempt to execute her by lethal injection and is back in prison, her lawyers said on Saturday. Pike, 50, returned…
Christa Pike's lawyers on Saturday said that the 50-year-old convicted murderer has been discharged from the hospital and returned to prison. Pike was transported to the hospital in critical condition on September 30 after she survived Tennessee's botched effort to execute her for murdering a classmate when she was a teenager.
· Outgoing prison chief in Christa Pike case oversaw five ‘botched’ executions, lawyers say from the morgue, 3 Oct 2026
· Judge orders officials to preserve all evidence tied to Christa Pike’s botched execution from the morgue, 7 Oct 2026
· Christa Pike’s lawyer says request to unshackle her was denied as he confirms she is speaking ‘limitedly’ – live from the morgue, 7 Oct 2026
· Christa Pike left in ‘critical condition’ as Tennessee halts all executions from the morgue, 2 Oct 2026
· Tennessee suspends executions as Christa Pike’s lawyer says failed lethal injection leaves her in critical condition from the morgue, 2 Oct 2026
· Tennessee Corrections commissioner resigns days after failed Christa Pike execution from the morgue, 3 Oct 2026
· Tennessee Prison Chief Was Hired Despite a Trail of Troubled Executions from the morgue, 3 Oct 2026
· Pike's botched execution renews death penalty scrutiny from the morgue, 3 Oct 2026
· After failed execution, health workers say Tennessee's method flouts medical ethics from the morgue, 30 Sep 2026
· Supreme Court Allows Execution of Christa Pike, Tennessee’s Lone Woman on Death Row from the morgue, 30 Sep 2026
· Federal court halts Christa Pike's execution from the morgue, 30 Sep 2026
· White House defends media outlet bans, now citing 'professionalism' standards from the morgue, 3 Oct 2026
· Sunday Shows Preview: Trump bans 3 media outlets from White House; Parties make final cases as midterms approach from the morgue, 19 Sep 2026
· Vance defends White House media ban: ‘Politico is as anti-Trump as Breitbart was anti-Obama or anti-Biden’ from the morgue, 21 Sep 2026
· Vance defends Trump's media ban as 'totally appropriate' from the morgue, 21 Sep 2026
· Bill Clinton: 'There were lots of times when I wanted to ban the White House press corps' from the morgue, 25 Sep 2026
· Tennessee prison chief to resign after Christa Pike's failed execution, governor says from the morgue, 3 Oct 2026
· Tennessee’s prisons chief resigns after failed Pike execution, governor says from the morgue, 3 Oct 2026
· Federal Appellate Court Halts Tennessee's Planned Execution of Christa Pike from the morgue, 30 Sep 2026
· Supreme Court declines Christa Pike's clemency appeal, with Tennessee set to execute first woman in 200 years from the morgue, 29 Sep 2026
· Supreme Court allows execution of Christa Pike to go forward from the morgue, 30 Sep 2026
· Tennessee court makes last minute move to temporarily halt Christa Pike's execution from the morgue, 30 Sep 2026
· DOJ petitions judge to reinstate White House ban on CNN, MS Now, and Politico from the morgue, 3 Oct 2026
· Trump White House Restores Access to Politico, MS NOW, CNN Reporters Hours After Judge's Order from the morgue, 24 Sep 2026
· Judge orders White House to restore media access temporarily for blocked outlets from the morgue, 24 Sep 2026
· CNN, MS NOW and Politico reporters regain entry to White House from the morgue, 24 Sep 2026
· Tennessee prison system head to resign after failed Christa Pike execution from the morgue, 3 Oct 2026
· Tennessee Prison Commissioner Resigns Days After Failed Execution from the morgue, 3 Oct 2026
· Tennessee prison chief resigns after Christa Pike’s botched execution from the morgue, 3 Oct 2026
· Christa Pike’s Tennessee execution halted by court an hour before it was scheduled from the morgue, 30 Sep 2026
· Christa Pike thought her arm would ‘burst open’ during botched Tennessee execution: court docs from the morgue, 3 Oct 2026
· Death row inmate unconscious on ventilator after botched execution for teen’s killing: attorneys from the morgue, 2 Oct 2026
· Christa Pike remains unconscious and on ventilator after failed execution in Tennessee from the morgue, 2 Oct 2026
· Christa Pike unconscious and intubated after failed execution, lawyers say from the morgue, 2 Oct 2026
· Christa Pike Was Unconscious and on Ventilator After Execution Attempt from the morgue, 2 Oct 2026
· How legislatures and the courts sabotage the death penalty from the morgue, 2 Oct 2026
· Tennessee inmate survived two lethal injections, her lawyer says in motion to halt execution from the morgue, 28 Sep 2026
· Tennessee Attempted to Execute a Sexual Assault Victim from the morgue, 22 Sep 2026
· Tennessee prepares to execute the first woman in over 200 years from the morgue, 29 Sep 2026
· Questions emerge after Christa Pike's botched execution from the morgue, 2 Oct 2026
· Tennessee executed Christa Pike by the book. She survived from the morgue, 2 Oct 2026
· Christa Pike in critical condition after failed execution attempts: Lawyer from the morgue, 2 Oct 2026
· Christa Pike’s botched lethal injection takes focus off victim, jeopardizes execution: former police chief from the morgue, 2 Oct 2026
· What the Modern State Gets Wrong About Execution from the morgue, 2 Oct 2026
· States should not blindly Alabama's use of execution by nitrogen from the morgue, 28 Sep 2026
· Lawyers, experts urge Tennessee governor to commute Christa Pike’s sentence after botched execution from the morgue, 2 Oct 2026
· Botched execution of death row inmate from the morgue, 1 Oct 2026
· After Two Botched Attempts, UN Experts Urge Tennessee Not to Try to Execute Crista Pike Again from the morgue, 1 Oct 2026
· Legal expert on what could happen after botched execution of Christa Pike from the morgue, 1 Oct 2026
· After Failed Attempt to Execute Christa Pike, Tennessee Pauses a Planned Execution from the morgue, 1 Oct 2026
· Botched US execution prompts global calls to scrap death penalty from the morgue, 1 Oct 2026
· Lone woman death row inmate Christa Pike says she’s ‘at peace’ ahead of execution — as Tennessee gov. denies last-ditch bid for clemency from the morgue, 29 Sep 2026
· Judge restores Seattle US attorney who Trump fired after court appointment from the morgue, 1 Oct 2026
· Judge rejects Trump administration arguments for withholding boat strike justification memo from the morgue, 1 Oct 2026
· Fourth Circuit worried Trump’s US attorney appointments unlawfully cut out Senate from the morgue, 15 Sep 2026
· Judge blocks Trump executive order banning ‘birth tourism’ from the morgue, 3 Sep 2026
· Tennessee Pauses Executions After a Botched Lethal Injection from the morgue, 1 Oct 2026
· The Memo: Tennessee debacle revives bitter debate over death penalty from the morgue, 1 Oct 2026
· The Supreme Court of the United States rules 5–4 to lift the block on four federal executions scheduled for July and August. Convicted murderer Daniel Lewis Lee, whose execution was scheduled for the from the morgue, 14 Jul 2020
· The Supreme Court of the United States refuses to vacate a stay of execution issued by the Arkansas Supreme Court. Arkansas's highest court has also put on hold the execution of another inmate, Bruce from the morgue, 18 Apr 2017
· Judge blocks Trump's firing of top federal prosecutor in Seattle from the morgue, 1 Oct 2026
· Judge reinstates Washington state US attorney fired by Trump from the morgue, 1 Oct 2026
· CNN, MS Now, and Politico ask judge to extend order pausing Trump’s ban from the morgue, 29 Sep 2026
· Trump dumbfounded on why death row inmate Christa Pike couldn’t be executed: ‘Should be easy to do’ from the morgue, 1 Oct 2026
· Trump administration asks Supreme Court to OK transgender inmate policy from the morgue, 28 Sep 2026
· Infamous Murderer ‘Critically Ill’ After Surviving Two Botched Lethal Injections: REPORT from the morgue, 1 Oct 2026
· Blackburn calls on TN to 'bring back' electric chair after botched Christa Pike execution from the morgue, 1 Oct 2026
· Mom of Christa Pike’s victim has furious response to watching failed execution: ‘They f–ked up’ from the morgue, 1 Oct 2026
· The Guardian view on the death penalty: Christa Pike’s execution was botched, but cruelty is inherent from the morgue, 1 Oct 2026
· What to know about pentobarbital after death row inmate survives 2 lethal injection doses from the morgue, 1 Oct 2026
· Am I Lying to Myself About the Death Penalty? from the morgue, 1 Oct 2026
This page is a back-issue: the story as it ran, receipts as they were. The current edition is at the front. The byline is a pen name for a column drafted by a machine and checked by the editor: how this is made.