Group Of Protesters Gather In Response To Oklahoma First Execution Since 2015

Oklahoma death row inmate John Grant has been executed, the state of Oklahoma said. Grant died by lethal injection at 4:21 p.m. Thursday, the state corrections department said. News on 6's Grant Stephens, who is covering some protestors who gathered outside the State Penitentiary.

Thursday, October 28th 2021, 5:05 pm

By: David Prock, Grant Stephens

MCALESTER, Oklahoma -

On Thursday Oklahoma carried out its first execution since 2015. John Grant was put to death for killing prison worker Gay Carter in 1998.

As he was executed, protesters gathered outside the penitentiary, and they were horrified when they found out he died vomiting and convulsing.

Protestor Alli Sullivan says an execution with convulsions and vomiting is exactly what she feared.

"As soon as I heard accounts of the convulsions, and of the other stuff, my stomach, it was already dropped, but it dropped any more," she said. "It's not humane like we’ve made it out to be.”

She flew in from Oregon to protest and drew comparisons to Oklahoma's botched executions in 2014 and 2015.

Who Is John Grant, The First Person To Be Executed In Oklahoma Since 2015?

Lawsuits following those executions drew into question whether the state's lethal injections caused unnecessary pain - and amounted to cruel and unusual punishment. Protester Abraham Bonowitz says it's not about how prisoners are killed.

"It’s about that we kill our prisoners," he said. "We can be safe from people who have done terrible things in their past without execution.”

He protested execution as a form of state-sponsored punishment.

That doesn’t take John Grant off the hook, I’m not saying that he’s blameless. What I am saying is that we can do better,” he said.

Five more death row prisoners are scheduled for execution.