title: Soorarai Pottru

text: Principal photography on "Soorarai Pottru" began on 8 April 2019. The team began filming for the first schedule, which was completed on 16 April 2019 and took place in Tamil Nadu. The second schedule began on 23 April 2019 at Chandigarh and finished on 6 June 2019. During this schedule, an action sequence was filmed using multiple cameras fitted in a car; this sequence was choreographed by Hollywood stuntman Greg Powell. Scenes were filmed on a specially constructed set resembling the interior and exterior of an aircraft the was designed by art director Jacki. Cinematographer Niketh Bommireddy said the crew used hand-held cameras during the principal shooting session because most of the film was shot in closed interiors. Scenes set at Jet Airline HQ and some airport scenes were filmed at O.P. Jindal Airport at Raigarh, Chhattisgarh.


title: Soorarai Pottru

text: The third schedule of the film started on 14 June 2019, when scenes featuring Mohan Babu and Paresh Rawal were filmed. Rawal completed his scenes the following month. Also in July, the crew went to Hyderabad to film major sequences. A month-long schedule took place in August, during which some important scenes were filmed in Madurai and surrounding locations. It marked Suriya's return to filming in Madurai after "Pithamagan" (2003). During the schedule, Suriya organised a meet with fans, around 800 of whom met Suriya during the shoot. The crew later returned to Chennai, where they erected a building at a location near Chennai International Airport to hide the runway from view.


title: Soorarai Pottru

text: Ecept for a few minor scenes, filming on the project ended on 27 September 2019. Suriya delivered gold coins to the film's crew members after completing the shoot. During the patchwork schedule, the team had to hire a real aircraft; the producers spent per day to rent an aircraft for filming. The entire film was completed within 60 working days.


title: Soorarai Pottru

text: Post-production on "Soorarat Pottru" began in January 2020, shortly after the end of filming, but it was suspended in March following the COVID-19 pandemic. Post-production resumed on 11 May 2020 after the Tamil Nadu government granted permission provided workers followed COVID-19 guidelines. In early June, the Central Board of Film Certification granted a U certificate for the film without cuts, and praised Suriya's performance. The censor board report was released in August; the film's final runtime is 153 minutes and offensive words in the film were muted. The film was scheduled for a direct-to-digital release, the official runtime was trimmed to 149 minutes and cuss words were not censored. The film's deleted scenes were released on 19 February 2021, coinciding with the film's 100th-day run), by the production house through YouTube.


title: Soorarai Pottru

text: G. V. Prakash Kumar worked on the film's score and soundtrack; in April 2019, before filming commenced, he recorded a song in collaboration with the band Thaikkudam Bridge for a rock number in the film. Singers Dhee, Senthil Ganesh and Harish Sivaramakrishnan of the band Agam also contributed to the album. Prakash worked on the film's background score in October 2019. The following month, Prakash announced Suriya will perform the rap versions of the film's theme music, which is titled "Maara Theme". The song marked his third time as a singer after he sang in "Anjaan" (2014) and the unreleased film "Party". Sony Music India released the film's soundtrack album on 24 July 2020.


title: Soorarai Pottru

text: "Soorarai Pottru" had been scheduled to release on Christmas Day, 25 December 2019; it was postponed until to Pongal, 15 January. Due to pending post-production work, the film's theatrical release was again postponed, this time to 1 May, and was then indefinitely delayed because of the COVID-19 pandemic. On 1 May that year on social media, Suriya stated the film would be scheduled for a theatrical release. On 22 August 2020, coinciding with Ganesh Chaturthi, Suriya announced the film would have a direct-to-digital release on Amazon Prime Video on 30 October 2020, and the theatrical release was cancelled. Suriya stated this decision was made because his production house 2D Entertainment had been facing financial difficulties due to the pandemic and had 8-10 projects to be produced; he also said he took his decision as a producer, not as an actor, and had to safeguard his projects and the crew working in the films. In an interview with "HuffPost", Suriya said: "I am able to maintain all the families of those working in those projects because I took the OTT route. That cheque saved families, and that's all I see right now".


title: Soorarai Pottru

text: The direct-to-digital release announcement disappointed many of Suriya's fans, who wanted to watch the film in theatres, and they asked him to reconsider his decision. Suriya faced a similar controversy when he released his film "Ponmagal Vandhal" (2020) on the same streaming platform; it became the first Tamil film to be digitally released during the pandemic, and Suriya received pushback from theatre owners and exhibitors for his decision. Director Hari wrote to Suriya, asking him to reconsider the decision of releasing the film digitally, while Bharathiraja defended him and welcomed his decision, stating it was the correct move for the situation. Rajasekar Pandian, the executive producer of 2D Entertainment, stated the film would be premiered by streaming in 200 countries. Suriya further announced 50 million from the film's profits would be donated to film-industry workers and frontline workers who made necessary efforts to control the pandemic.


title: Soorarai Pottru

text: A week prior to the film's release date, 21 October 2020, Suriya announced that the film would again be postponed due to a delay in obtaining the No Objection Certificate (NOC) from the IAF. The makers announced a new release date of 12 November 2020, the eve of Diwali festival. "Soorarai Pottru" was released in Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam and Kannada languages; the Telugu version was titled "Aakasam Nee Haddhu Ra", and Satyadev Kancharana provided dubbing for Suriya's character. A Hindi-dubbed version titled "Udaan" was released on 4 April 2021.


title: Soorarai Pottru

text: As part of the film's promotional strategy, the production company announced they would partner with Indian budget airline SpiceJet, whose chairman Ajay Singh launched his company's Boeing 737 aircraft with a "Soorarai Pottru" poster branded on it on 13 February 2020. The same day, the second single of the film's soundtrack was launched on the same aircraft. This was the third time a passenger jet had been used to advertise an Indian film, after AirAsia India for "Kabali" (2016) and SpiceJet for "Darbar" (2020). The making-of "Soorarai Pottru" documentary was released on 14 April 2020, Tamil New Year's Day. Fans appreciated Suriya's dedication and hard work for the film featured in the making-of video.


title: Soorarai Pottru

text: Prior to the film's release, Suriya launched a huge space balloon with a special poster at the highest possible altitude. The poster, which also bore the signatures of over 10,000 fans, was launched at above sea level. The first-of-a-kind promotional activity went viral on social media platforms and the Internet. A Twitter emoji for the film was launched before its release.


title: Soorarai Pottru

text: The satellite television rights of the film's Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam and Kannada versions were sold to the Sun TV Network. The film's television premiere took place on Sun TV on 14 January 2021, the day of the Pongal festival.


title: Soorarai Pottru

text: "Soorarai Pottru" was planned for theatrical re-release on 23 August 2021, when theatres were allowed to resume operations after closure due to a surge in COVID-19 cases in Tamil Nadu. This decision was planned after the film was screened at Sathyam Cinemas in Chennai for the Chennai International Film Festival in February 2021. After the positive response during its first theatrical screening, the makers planned a theatrical re-release. 2D Entertainment had planned to screen the film on a free-distribution basis in which the profits earned would be handed to theatre owners. The plan was abandoned when Tamil Nadu Theatre Owners Association (TNTOA) decided not to screen films that were released through digital platforms. In December 2021, however, fans of Suriya announced the film would be re-released in theatres across Kerala from mid-December 2021 until January 2022. Owing to the response in Kerala, the production company reinstated the decision to re-release it in a limited number of theatres in Tamil Nadu on 4 February 2022.


title: Soorarai Pottru

text: "Soorarai Pottru" received critical acclaim. Writing for "The Hindu", Srinivasa Ramanujam said: "Director Sudha Kongara delivers a well-knit cinematic tale that urges us to follow our dreams ... The intensity of proceedings does soften in the second half, when somehow, things seem to fall too quickly in place, with help pouring in from unexpected quarters for the protagonist. However, Suriya as Maara holds the show together". Ranjani Krishnakumar from "Firstpost" gave the film a rating of four-and-a-half out of five and said; "Sudha Kongara, Suriya tell a moving, poetic biopic without deifying the leading man". Karthik Keramalu from "The Quint" gave the film a rating of three-and-a-half out of five, calling it a "comeback" for Suriya after the less-positively received works "NGK" and "Kaappaan"", adding: ""Soorarai Pottru" largely works, as it is about a larger-than-life dream than one particular person. I'm not denying that it is based on GR Gopinath's life, but the dramatic events that have carefully been picked from his tall tale are about a handful and director Sudha Kongara has glued them well with enough grit to sustain the proceedings".


title: Soorarai Pottru

text: Right from the start, the film shows us how the nexus between capitalists and bureaucrats has been instrumental in crushing anyone who dares to dream big, after a point, the hurdles that Maara has to cross begin to feel repetitive, making the film seem a bit overlong. But the closing visuals of the joy on the faces of the common folk who take the flight on Maara's aircraft ensure a smooth touchdown".


title: Soorarai Pottru

text: According to Sudhir Srinivasan from "The New Indian Express"; "It's a film with character purpose across the board, incisive dialogues, great performances, and much empathy and sensitivity to boot. "Soorarai Pottru" is the whole package really. It can be said that in charting the life of this man who wanted millions to soar, the film too has managed to".


title: Soorarai Pottru

text: Logesh Balachandran of "India Today" gave three-and-a-half stars out of five, saying; "There is a tautness to the storytelling, especially until the interval, that keeps us gripped. The second half, however, lacked that substance which was built in the first half of the film. Sudha could have done a little more research on other aviation stories and incorporated them into the script. That said, the performance of Suriya is what holds the entire film together". Balachandran said the film "was made for the theatrical experience and would have been an amazing watch on the big screen", and concluded "the OTT release has given the makers of the film a wider reach". Gauthaman Bhaskaran of "News18" gave the film two-and-a-half stars out of five and stated; ""Soorarai Pottru" could have been far more inspiring and even engrossing had director Sudha Kongara done away with unnecessary songs and emotions. Her plane would have had a smoother flight sans the turbulence". According to "Sify", which gave the film four stars out of five; ""Soorarai Pottru" stands out with its fine writing and outstanding performance of Suriya".


title: Soorarai Pottru

text: Sowmya Rajendran, editor-in-chief of "The News Minute" gave four out of five and stated; "Suriya is in fine form, switching between angry young man to conflicted son, romantic husband and cussing businessman  ... "Soorarai Pottru" is easily Suriya's best outing in a long time. It's a pleasant flight even if there's some turbulence along the way". Critic Shubhra Gupta of "The Indian Express" gave two out of five and stated; ""Soorarai Pottru" is marred by the high-pitched melodrama whistled up every time the script needs to create fan-pleasing moments. Given Suriya's mega popularity, that is an always present temptation, and the film gives in, much too often." Writing for "Hindustan Times", Haricharan Pudipeddi said; ""Soorarai Pottru", which will go down as one of the best films of the year, is Suriya's return to form (after a few mediocre films) and it's quite gutsy of a mainstream hero to produce and star in a film that doesn't tick all those boxes of a typical commercial entertainer". Baradwaj Rangan wrote for "Film Companion"; "In terms of sheer professionalism, the film is the best thing that's come on the southern OTT space".


title: Soorarai Pottru

text: "Soorarai Pottru" was selected as one of ten Indian films to be screened in the Best Foreign Film category at the 78th Golden Globe Awards. On 26 January 2021, the film's executive producer Rajasekar Pandian announced "Soorarai Pottru" had been entered into the 93rd Academy Awards, for Best Actor, Best Actress, Best Director, Best Original Score and other categories. He also said it has been made available to members of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences for votes and nomination at the Academy Screening Room. The film was one of 366 films that were eligible for nomination but it was not nominated. "Soorarai Pottru" was also screened at the Chennai International Film Festival. The film also entered the Panorama section of the Shanghai International Film Festival. It won two awards at the Indian Film Festival of Melbourne – including Best Film and Best Actor (Suriya). It was nominated in 14 categories at the 10th South Indian International Movie Awards and won seven awards. At the 68th National Film Awards, "Soorarai Pottru" won five awards: Best Feature Film, Best Actor (Suriya), Best Actress (Aparna), Best Original Screenplay (Kongara and Nair) and Best Background Score (Prakash Kumar).


title: Soorarai Pottru

text: "Soorarai Pottru" received positive response from celebrities including director Shankar, actors Mahesh Babu, and Samantha Ruth Prabhu, all of whom praised the film. The film became the second-most-tweeted hashtag of the year in entertainment sections, according to a survey report by Twitter. The film also became the second-most-searched topic in Google Trends, becoming the only South Indian film to appear in this list. As of February 2021, "Soorarai Pottru" is the most-watched regional language film in the history of Amazon Prime Video in India.


title: Soorarai Pottru

text: "Soorarai Pottru" is being remade in Hindi; again directed by Kongara and produced by Suriya and Vikram Malhotra. It stars Akshay Kumar and Radhika Madan, and Paresh Rawal reprising his role.


title: Soorarai Pottru

text: Suriya appears in a cameo role. G. V. Prakash Kumar was retained as composer to score new soundtrack. Principal photography commenced in April 2022 and ended in December 2022.


title: Lethal injection

text: Lethal injection is the practice of injecting one or more drugs into a person (typically a barbiturate, paralytic, and potassium solution) for the express purpose of causing rapid death. The main application for this procedure is capital punishment, but the term may also be applied in a broader sense to include euthanasia and other forms of suicide. The drugs cause the person to become unconscious, stops their breathing, and causes a heart arrhythmia, in that order.


title: Lethal injection

text: First developed in the United States, it has become a legal means of execution in Mainland China, Thailand (since 2003), Guatemala, Taiwan, the Maldives, Nigeria, and Vietnam, though Guatemala abolished the death penalty in civil cases in 2017 and has not conducted an execution since 2000 and the Maldives has never carried out an execution since its independence. Although Taiwan permits lethal injection as an execution method, no executions have been carried out in this manner; the same is true for Nigeria. Lethal injection was also used in the Philippines until the country re-abolished the death penalty in 2006.


title: Lethal injection

text: Although primarily introduced as a more "humane" method of execution, lethal injection has been subject to criticism, being described by some as cruel and unusual. Opponents in particular critique the operation of lethal injections by untrained corrections officers (as anyone even remotely medically trained is prohibited by the hippocratic oath), and the lack of guarantee that the victim will be unconscious in every individual case. There have been instances in which condemned individuals have been injected with paralytics, and then a cardiac arrest-inducing agent, while still conscious; this has been compared to torture. Proponents often say that there is no reasonable or less cruel alternative.


title: Lethal injection

text: Lethal injection gained popularity in the late 20th century as a form of execution intended to supplant other methods, notably electrocution, gas inhalation, hanging and firing squad, that were considered to be less humane. It is now the most common form of legal execution in the United States.


title: Lethal injection

text: Lethal injection was proposed on January 17, 1888, by Julius Mount Bleyer, a New York doctor who praised it as being cheaper than hanging. Bleyer's idea was never used, due to a series of botched executions and the eventual rise of public disapproval in electrocutions. Lethal injections were first used by Nazi Germany to execute prisoners during World War II. Nazi Germany developed the Action T4 euthanasia program led by Karl Brandtas one method to dispose of "Lebensunwertes Leben" ("life unworthy of life"). During the war, lethal injections were also administered to children detained at the Sisak concentration camp by the camp's commander, the physician Antun Najžer. The British Royal Commission on Capital Punishment (1949–53) also considered lethal injection, but eventually ruled it out after pressure from the British Medical Association (BMA).


title: Lethal injection

text: On May 11, 1977, Oklahoma's state medical examiner Jay Chapman proposed a new, less painful method of execution, known as Chapman's protocol: "An intravenous saline drip shall be started in the prisoner's arm, into which shall be introduced a lethal injection consisting of an ultrashort-acting barbiturate in combination with a chemical paralytic." After the procedure was approved by anesthesiologist Stanley Deutsch, formerly Head of the Department of Anaesthesiology of the Oklahoma University Medical School, the Episcopal Reverend Bill Wiseman introduced the method into the Oklahoma legislature, where it passed and was quickly adopted (Title 22, Section 1014(A)). Since then, until 2004, 37 of the 38 states using capital punishment introduced lethal injection statutes (the last state, Nebraska, maintaining electrocution as its single method until adopting injection in 2009, after its Supreme Court deemed the electric chair unconstitutional).


title: Lethal injection

text: On August 29, 1977, Texas adopted the new method of execution, switching from electrocution. On December 7, 1982, Texas became the first U.S. state and territory in the world to use lethal injection to carry out capital punishment, for the execution of Charles Brooks, Jr.


title: Lethal injection

text: The People's Republic of China began using this method in 1997, Guatemala in 1996, the Philippines in 1999, Thailand in 2003, and Taiwan in 2005. Vietnam first used this method in 2013. The Philippines abolished the death penalty in 2006, with their last execution being in 2000. Guatemalan law still allows for the death penalty and lethal injection is the sole method allowed, but no penalties have been carried out since 2000 when the country experienced the live televised double executions of Amilcar Cetino Perez and Tomas Cerrate Hernandez.


title: Lethal injection

text: The export of drugs to be used for lethal injection was banned by the European Union (EU) in 2011, together with other items under the EU Torture Regulation. Since then, pentobarbital followed thiopental in the European Union's ban.


title: Lethal injection

text: By early 2014, a number of botched executions involving lethal injection, and a rising shortage of suitable drugs, had some U.S. states reconsidering lethal injection as a form of execution. Tennessee, which had previously offered inmates a choice between lethal injection and the electric chair, passed a law in May 2014 which gave the state the option to use the electric chair if lethal injection drugs are either unavailable or declared unconstitutional. At the same time, Wyoming and Utah were considering the use of execution by firing squad in addition to other existing execution methods.


title: Lethal injection

text: In 2016, Pfizer joined over 20 American and European pharmaceutical manufacturers that had previously blocked the sale of their drugs for use in lethal injections, effectively closing the open market for FDA-approved manufacturers for any potential lethal execution drug. In the execution of Carey Dean Moore on August 14, 2018, the State of Nebraska used a novel drug cocktail comprising diazepam, fentanyl, cisatracurium, and potassium chloride, over the strong objections of the German pharmaceutical company Fresenius Kabi.


title: Lethal injection

text: Potassium acetate had been incorrectly used in place of potassium chloride in Oklahoma in January 2015 for the execution of Charles Frederick Warner. In August 2017, the State of Florida first used the drug in the execution of Mark James Asay using a combination of etomidate, rocuronium bromide, and potassium acetate as part of a new protocol.


title: Lethal injection

text: In the United States, the typical lethal injection begins with the condemned person being strapped onto a gurney; two intravenous cannulas ("IVs") are then inserted, one in each arm. Only one is necessary to carry out the execution; the other is reserved as a backup in the event the primary line fails. A line leading from the IV line in an adjacent room is attached to the prisoner's IV and secured so that the line does not snap during the injections.


title: Lethal injection

text: The arm of the condemned person is swabbed with alcohol before the cannula is inserted. The needles and equipment used are sterilized. Questions have been raised about why these precautions against infection are performed despite the purpose of the injection being death. The several explanations include: cannulae are sterilized and have their quality heavily controlled during manufacture, so using sterile ones is a routine medical procedure. Secondly, the prisoner could receive a stay of execution after the cannulae have been inserted, as happened in the case of James Autry in October 1983 (he was eventually executed on March 14, 1984). Third, use of unsterilized equipment would be a hazard to the prison personnel in case of an accidental needle stick.


title: Lethal injection

text: Following connection of the lines, saline drips are started in both arms. This, too, is standard medical procedure: it must be ascertained that the IV lines are not blocked, ensuring the chemicals have not precipitated in the IV lines and blocked the needle, preventing the drugs from reaching the subject. A heart monitor is attached to the inmate.


title: Lethal injection

text: In most states, the intravenous injection is a series of drugs given in a set sequence, designed to first induce unconsciousness followed by death through paralysis of respiratory muscles and/or by cardiac arrest through depolarization of cardiac muscle cells. The execution of the condemned in most states involves three separate injections (in sequential order):


title: Lethal injection

text: The drugs are not mixed externally to avoid precipitation. A sequential injection is also key to achieve the desired effects in the appropriate order: administration of the pentobarbital renders the person unconscious; the infusion of the pancuronium bromide induces complete paralysis, including that of the lungs and diaphragm rendering the person unable to breathe.


title: Lethal injection

text: If the person being executed were not already completely unconscious, the injection of a highly concentrated solution of potassium chloride could cause severe pain at the site of the IV line, as well as along the punctured vein; it interrupts the electrical activity of the heart muscle and causes it to stop beating, bringing about the death of the person being executed.


title: Lethal injection

text: The intravenous tubing leads to a room next to the execution chamber, usually separated from the condemned by a curtain or wall. Typically, a prison employee trained in venipuncture inserts the needle, while a second prison employee orders, prepares, and loads the drugs into the lethal injection syringes. Two other staff members take each of the three syringes and secure them into the IVs. After the curtain is opened to allow the witnesses to see inside the chamber, the condemned person is then permitted to make a final statement. Following this, the warden signals that the execution may commence, and the (either prison staff or private citizens depending on the jurisdiction) then manually inject the three drugs in sequence. During the execution, the condemned's cardiac rhythm is monitored.


title: Lethal injection

text: Death is pronounced after cardiac activity stops. Death usually occurs within seven minutes, although, due to complications in finding a suitable vein, the whole procedure can take up to two hours, as was the case with the execution of Christopher Newton on May 24, 2007. According to state law, if a physician's participation in the execution is prohibited for reasons of medical ethics, then the death ruling can be made by the state medical examiner's office. After confirmation that death has occurred, a coroner signs the condemned's death certificate.


title: Lethal injection

text: Missouri and, before the abolition of capital punishment, Delaware, uses or used a lethal injection machine designed by Massachusetts-based Fred A. Leuchter consisting of two components: the delivery module and the control module. The delivery module is in the execution chamber. It must be pre-loaded with the proper chemicals and operates the timing of the dosage. The control module is in the control room. This is the portion which officially starts the procedure. This is done by first arming the machine, and then with station members simultaneously pressing each of their buttons on the panel to activate the delivery. The computer then deletes who actually started the syringes, so the participants are not aware if their syringe contained saline or one of the drugs necessary for execution (to assuage guilt in a manner similar to the blank cartridge in execution by firing squad).


title: Lethal injection

text: The delivery module has eight syringes. The end syringes (i.e., syringes 7 and 8) containing saline, syringes 2, 4 and 6 containing the lethal drugs for the main line and syringes 1, 3 and 5 containing the injections for the backup line. The system was used in New Jersey before the abolition of the death penalty in 2007. Illinois previously used the computer, and Missouri and Delaware use the manual injection switch on the delivery panel.


title: Lethal injection

text: Eleven states have switched, or have stated their intention to switch, to a one-drug lethal injection protocol. A one-drug method is using the single drug sodium thiopental to execute someone. The first state to switch to this method was Ohio, on December 8, 2009.


title: Lethal injection

text: In 2011, after pressure by activist organizations, the manufacturers of pentobarbital and sodium thiopental halted the supply of the drugs to U.S. prisons performing lethal injections and required all resellers to do the same.


title: Lethal injection

text: In the past, the People's Republic of China executed prisoners primarily by means of shooting. In recent years, lethal injection has become more common. The specific lethal injection procedures, including the drug or drugs used, are a state secret and not publicly known.


title: Lethal injection

text: Lethal injection in China was legalized in 1996. The number of shooting executions slowly decreased; and, in February 2009, the Supreme People's Court ordered the discontinuation of firing squads by the following year under the conclusion that injections were more humane to the prisoner. It has been suggested that the switch is also in response to executions being horrifying to the public. Lethal injections are less expensive than firing squads, with a single dose costing 300 yuan compared to 700 yuan for a shooting execution.


title: Lethal injection

text: Prior to 2013, shooting was the primary method of execution in Vietnam. The use of lethal injection method was approved by the government in 2010, adopted in 2011, and then started being used in 2013. Urges to adopt other methods than lethal injection to replace the shooting execution began earlier, in 2006, after concerns of the mental state of the firing squad members after executions.


title: Lethal injection

text: The drugs used consist of pancuronium bromide (paralyzing substance), potassium chloride (stops cardiac activity), and sodium thiopental (anesthetic). The production of these substances, however, is low in Vietnam. This led to drug shortages and to considering using other domestic poisons or the readoption of shootings.


title: Lethal injection

text: The first prisoner in Vietnam to be executed by lethal injection, on August 6, 2013, was the 27-year-old man Nguyen Anh Tuan, arrested for murder and robbery. Between 2013 and 2016, 429 prisoners were executed by this method in the country.


title: Lethal injection

text: Typically, three drugs are used in lethal injection. Pancuronium bromide (Pavulon) is used to cause muscle paralysis and respiratory arrest, potassium chloride to stop the heart, and midazolam for sedation.


title: Lethal injection

text: Pancuronium bromide (Trade name: Pavulon): The related drug curare, like pancuronium, is a non-depolarizing muscle relaxant (a paralytic agent) that blocks the action of acetylcholine at the motor end-plate of the neuromuscular junction. Binding of acetylcholine to receptors on the end-plate causes depolarization and contraction of the muscle fiber; non-depolarizing neuromuscular blocking agents like pancuronium stop this binding from taking place


title: Lethal injection

text: The typical dose for pancuronium bromide in capital punishment by lethal injection is 0.2 mg/kg and the duration of paralysis is around 4 to 8 hours. Paralysis of respiratory muscles will lead to death in a considerably shorter time.


title: Lethal injection

text: Pancuronium bromide is a derivative of the alkaloid malouetine from the plant "Malouetia bequaertiana".


title: Lethal injection

text: Potassium is an electrolyte, 98% of which is intracellular. The 2% remaining outside the cell has great implications for cells that generate action potentials. Doctors prescribe potassium for patients when potassium levels in the blood are insufficient, called hypokalemia. The potassium can be given orally, which is the safest route; or it can be given intravenously, in which case strict rules and hospital protocols govern the rate at which it is given.


title: Lethal injection

text: The usual intravenous dose is 10–20 mEq per hour and it is given slowly since it takes time for the electrolyte to equilibrate into the cells. When used in state-sanctioned lethal injection, bolus potassium injection affects the electrical conduction of heart muscle. Elevated potassium, or hyperkalemia, causes the resting electrical potential of the heart muscle cells to be lower than normal (less negative) and more depolarised than normal at rest. The sodium voltage-gated channels required for the rapid phase 0 depolarisation spike in the ventricular and atrial action potential can fire once, but will inactivate rapidly and become inexcitable due to the closure of a specific inactivation gate. This blockage would normally be removed from the pore when the membrane repolarises to more than −70mV however as there is a raised resting membrane potential this negative membrane potential cannot be reached and the inactivation of the sodium voltage-gated channels cannot be relieved. Thus there can be no subsequent action potentials generated within the affected sarcomere.


title: Lethal injection

text: Depolarizing the muscle cell inhibits its ability to fire by reducing the available number of sodium channels (they are placed in an inactivated state). ECG changes include faster repolarization (peaked T-waves), PR interval prolongation, widening of the QRS complex, and finally, asystole. Cases of patients dying from hyperkalemia (usually secondary to kidney failure) are well known in the medical community, where patients have been known to die very rapidly, having previously seemed to be normal.


title: Lethal injection

text: Sodium thiopental (US trade name: Sodium Pentothal) is an ultra-short acting barbiturate, often used for anesthesia induction and for medically-induced coma. The typical anesthesia induction dose is 0.35 grams. Loss of consciousness is induced within 30–45 seconds at the typical dose, while a 5 gram dose (14 times the normal dose) is likely to induce unconsciousness in 10 seconds.


title: Lethal injection

text: A full medical dose of thiopental reaches the brain in about 30 seconds. This induces an unconscious state. Five to twenty minutes after injection, approximately 15% of the drug is in the brain, with the rest in other parts of the body.


title: Lethal injection

text: The half-life of this drug is about 11.5 hours, and the concentration in the brain remains at around 5–10% of the total dose during that time. When a 'mega-dose' is administered, as in state-sanctioned lethal injection, the concentration in the brain during the tail phase of the distribution remains higher than the peak concentration found in the induction dose for anesthesia, because repeated doses—or a single very high dose as in lethal injection—accumulate in high concentrations in body fat, from which the thiopental is gradually released. This is the reason why an ultra-short acting barbiturate, such as thiopental, can be used for long-term induction of medical coma.


title: Lethal injection

text: Historically, thiopental has been one of the most commonly used and studied drugs for the induction of coma. Protocols vary for how it is given, but the typical doses are anywhere from 500 mg up to 1.5 grams. It is likely that this data was used to develop the initial protocols for state-sanctioned lethal injection, according to which one gram of thiopental was used to induce the coma. Now, most states use 5 grams to be absolutely certain the dosage is effective.


title: Lethal injection

text: Pentobarbital was introduced at the end of 2010 due to a shortage of sodium thiopental, and has since become the primary sedative in lethal injections in the United States.


title: Lethal injection

text: Barbiturates are the same class of drug used in medically assisted suicide. In euthanasia protocols, the typical dose of thiopental is 1.5 grams; the Dutch Euthanasia protocol indicates 1-1.5 grams or 2 grams in case of high barbiturate tolerance. The dose used for capital punishment is therefore about 3 times more than the dose used in euthanasia.


title: Lethal injection

text: The Ohio protocol, developed after the incomplete execution of Romell Broom, ensures the rapid and painless onset of anesthesia by only using sodium thiopental and eliminating the use of Pavulon and potassium as the second and third drugs, respectively. It also provides for a secondary fail-safe measure using intramuscular injection of midazolam and hydromorphone in the event intravenous administration of the sodium thiopental proves problematic. The first state to switch to use midazolam as the first drug in a new three-drug protocol was Florida on October 15, 2013. Then on November 14, 2013, Ohio made the same move.


title: Lethal injection

text: In the brief for the U.S. courts written by accessories, the State of Ohio implies that they were unable to find any physicians willing to participate in development of protocols for executions by lethal injection, as this would be a violation of medical ethics, such as the Geneva Promise, and such physicians would be thrown out of the medical community and shunned for engaging in such deeds, even if they could not lawfully be stripped of their license.


title: Lethal injection

text: On December 8, 2009, Kenneth Biros became the first person executed using Ohio's new single-drug execution protocol. He was pronounced dead at 11:47 am EST, 10 minutes after receiving the injection. On September 10, 2010, Washington became the second state to use the single-drug Ohio protocol with the execution of Cal Coburn Brown, who was proclaimed dead within two minutes after receiving the single-drug injection of sodium thiopental. Currently, seven states (Arizona, Georgia, Idaho, Missouri, Ohio, South Dakota, and Texas.) have used the single-drug execution protocol. The state of Washington did use this single drug method, but they have stopped since state executions were abolished. Five additional states (Arkansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, North Carolina, and Tennessee) have announced that they are switching to a single-drug protocol but, as of April 2014, have not executed anyone since switching protocols.


title: Lethal injection

text: After sodium thiopental began being used in executions, Hospira, the only American company that made the drug, stopped manufacturing it due to its use in executions. The subsequent nationwide shortage of sodium thiopental led states to seek other drugs to use in executions. Pentobarbital, often used for animal euthanasia, was used as part of a three-drug cocktail for the first time on December 16, 2010, when John David Duty was executed in Oklahoma. It was then used as the drug in a single-drug execution for the first time on March 10, 2011, when Johnnie Baston was executed in Ohio.


title: Lethal injection

text: Lethal injection has also been used in cases of euthanasia to facilitate voluntary death in patients with terminal or chronically painful conditions. Euthanasia can be accomplished either through oral, intravenous, or intramuscular administration of drugs. In individuals who are incapable of swallowing lethal doses of medication, an intravenous route is preferred. The following is a Dutch protocol for parenteral (intravenous) administration to obtain euthanasia, with the old protocol listed first and the new protocol listed second:


title: Lethal injection

text: In 2006, the Supreme Court ruled in "Hill v. McDonough" that death-row inmates in the United States could challenge the constitutionality of states' lethal injection procedures through a federal civil rights lawsuit. Since then, numerous death-row inmates have brought such challenges in the lower courts, claiming that lethal injection as currently practiced violates the ban on "cruel and unusual punishment" found in the Eighth Amendment to the United States Constitution. Lower courts evaluating these challenges have reached opposing conclusions. For example, courts have found that lethal injection as practiced in California, Florida, and Tennessee is unconstitutional. Other courts have found that lethal injection as practiced in Missouri, Arizona, and Oklahoma is constitutionally acceptable.


title: Lethal injection

text: As of 2014, California has nearly 750 prisoners condemned to death by lethal injection despite the moratorium imposed when in 2006 a federal court found California's lethal injection procedures to be unconstitutional. A newer lethal injection facility has been constructed at San Quentin State Prison which cost over $800,000, but it has yet to be used because a state court found that the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation violated the California Administrative Procedure Act by attempting to prevent public oversight when new injection procedures were being created.


title: Lethal injection

text: On September 25, 2007, the United States Supreme Court agreed to hear a lethal-injection challenge arising from Kentucky, "Baze v. Rees". In Baze, the Supreme Court addressed whether Kentucky's particular lethal-injection procedure (using the standard three-drug protocol) comports with the Eighth Amendment; it also determined the proper legal standard by which lethal-injection challenges in general should be judged, all in an effort to bring some uniformity to how these claims are handled by the lower courts. Although uncertainty over whether executions in the United States would be put on hold during the period in which the United States Supreme Court considers the constitutionality of lethal injection initially arose after the court agreed to hear Baze, no executions took place during the period between when the court agreed to hear the case and when its ruling was announced, with the exception of one lethal injection in Texas hours after the court made its announcement.


title: Lethal injection

text: On April 16, 2008, the Supreme Court rejected "Baze v. Rees", thereby upholding Kentucky's method of lethal injection in a majority 7–2 decision. Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg and David Souter dissented. Several states immediately indicated plans to proceed with executions.


title: Lethal injection

text: The U.S. Supreme Court also upheld a modified lethal-injection protocol in the 2015 case "Glossip v. Gross". By the time of that case, Oklahoma had altered its execution protocol to use midazolam instead of thiopental or pentobarbital; the latter two drugs had become unavailable for executions due to the European embargo on selling them to prisons. Inmates on Oklahoma's death row alleged that the use of midazolam was unconstitutional, because the drug was not proven to render a person unconscious as thiobarbital would. The Supreme Court found that the prisoners failed to demonstrate that midazolam would create a high risk of severe pain, and that the prisoners had not provided an alternative, practical method of execution that would have a lower risk. Consequently, it ruled that the new method was permissible under the Eighth Amendment.


title: Lethal injection

text: On March 15, 2018, Russell Bucklew, a Missouri death-row inmate who had been scheduled to be executed on May 21, 2014, appealed the constitutionality of lethal injection on an as-applied basis. The basis for Bucklew's appeal was due to Bucklew's allegation that his rare medical condition would interfere with the effects of the drugs, potentially causing him to choke on his own blood. On April 1, 2019, The Supreme Court ruled against Bucklew on the grounds that his proposed alternative to lethal injection, nitrogen hypoxia, was neither "readily implemented" nor established to "significantly reduce a substantial risk of severe pain".


title: Lethal injection

text: The American Medical Association (AMA) believes that a physician's opinion on capital punishment is a personal decision. Since the AMA is founded on preserving life, they argue that a doctor "should not be a participant" in executions in any professional capacity with the exception of "certifying death, provided that the condemned has been declared dead by another person" and "relieving the acute suffering of a condemned person while awaiting execution". The AMA, however, does not have the ability to enforce its prohibition of doctors from participation in lethal injection. As medical licensing is handled on the state level, it does not have the authority to revoke medical licenses.


title: Lethal injection

text: Typically, most states do not require that physicians administer the drugs for lethal injection, but most states do require doctors, nurses or paramedics to prepare the substances before their application and to attest the inmate's death after it.


title: Lethal injection

text: Some states specifically detail that participation in a lethal injection is not to be considered practicing medicine. For example, Delaware law reads "the administration of the required lethal substance or substances required by this section shall not be construed to be the practice of medicine and any pharmacist or pharmaceutical supplier is authorized to dispense drugs to the Commissioner or the Commissioner's designee, without prescription, for carrying out the provisions of this section, notwithstanding any other provision of law" (excerpt from Title 11, Chapter 42, § 4209). State law allows for the dispensing of the drugs/chemicals for lethal injection to the state's department of corrections without a prescription. However, states are still subject to DEA regulation with respect to lethal injection drugs.


title: Lethal injection

text: Opponents of lethal injection have voiced concerns that abuse, misuse and even criminal conduct is possible when there is not a proper chain of command and authority for the acquisition of death-inducing drugs.


title: Lethal injection

text: Opponents of lethal injection believe that it is not actually painless as practiced in the United States. Opponents argue that the thiopental is an ultrashort-acting barbiturate that may wear off (anesthesia awareness) and lead to consciousness and an uncomfortable death wherein the inmates are unable to express discomfort because they have been rendered paralyzed by the paralytic agent.


title: Lethal injection

text: Opponents point to the fact that sodium thiopental is typically used as an induction agent and is not used in the maintenance phase of surgery because of its short-acting nature. Following the administration of thiopental, pancuronium bromide, a paralytic agent, is given. Opponents argue that pancuronium bromide not only dilutes the thiopental, but, as it paralyzes the inmate, also prevents the inmate from expressing pain. Additional concerns have been raised over whether inmates are administered an appropriate amount of thiopental owing to the rapid redistribution of the drug out of the brain to other parts of the body.


title: Lethal injection

text: Additionally, opponents argue that the method of administration also is flawed. They contend that as the personnel administering the lethal injection lack expertise in anesthesia, the risk of failure to induce unconsciousness is greatly increased. In reference to this issue, Jay Chapman, the creator of the American method, said, "It never occurred to me when we set this up that we'd have complete idiots administering the drugs". Also, opponents argue that the dose of sodium thiopental must be customized to each individual patient, and not restricted to a set protocol. Finally, they contend that remote administration may result in an increased risk that insufficient amounts of the lethal-injection drugs enter the inmate's bloodstream.


title: Lethal injection

text: In summation, opponents argue that the effect of dilution or of improper administration of thiopental is that the inmate dies an agonizing death through suffocation due to the paralytic effects of pancuronium bromide and the intense burning sensation caused by potassium chloride.


title: Lethal injection

text: Opponents of lethal injection, as currently practiced, argue that the procedure employed is designed to create the appearance of serenity and a painless death, rather than actually providing it. More specifically, opponents object to the use of pancuronium bromide, arguing that its use in lethal injection serves no useful purpose since the inmate is physically restrained. Therefore, the default function of pancuronium bromide would be to suppress the autonomic nervous system, specifically to stop breathing.


title: Lethal injection

text: In 2005, University of Miami researchers, in cooperation with the attorney representing death-row inmates from Virginia, published a research letter in the medical journal "The Lancet". The article presented protocol information from Texas, Virginia, and North and South Carolina which showed that executioners had no anesthesia training, drugs were administered remotely with no monitoring for anesthesia, data were not recorded, and no peer review was done. Their analysis of toxicology reports from Arizona, Georgia, North and South Carolina showed that "post mortem" concentrations of thiopental in the blood were lower than that required for surgery in 43 of 49 executed inmates (88%), and that 21 (43%) inmates had concentrations consistent with awareness. This led the authors to conclude that a substantial probability existed that some of the inmates were aware and suffered extreme pain and distress during execution. The authors attributed the risk of consciousness among inmates to the lack of training and monitoring in the process, but carefully made no recommendations on how to alter the protocol or how to improve the process. Indeed, the authors conclude, "because participation of doctors in protocol design or execution is ethically prohibited, adequate anesthesia cannot be certain. Therefore, to prevent unnecessary cruelty and suffering, cessation and public review of lethal injections is warranted".


title: Lethal injection

text: Paid expert consultants on both sides of the lethal-injection debate have found opportunity to criticize the 2005 "Lancet" article. Subsequent to the initial publication in the "Lancet", three letters to the editor and a response from the authors extended the analysis. The issue of contention is whether thiopental, like many lipid-soluble drugs, may be redistributed from blood into tissues after death, effectively lowering thiopental concentrations over time, or whether thiopental may distribute from tissues into the blood, effectively increasing "post mortem" blood concentrations over time. Given the near absence of scientific, peer-reviewed data on the topic of thiopental "post mortem" pharmacokinetics, the controversy continues in the lethal-injection community and, in consequence, many legal challenges to lethal injection have not used the "Lancet" article.


title: Lethal injection

text: In 2007, the same group that authored the "Lancet" study extended its study of the lethal-injection process through a critical examination of the pharmacology of the barbiturate thiopental. This study – published in the online journal "PLOS Medicine" – confirmed and extended the conclusions made in the original article and goes further to disprove the assertion that the lethal-injection process is painless.


title: Lethal injection

text: To date, these two studies by the University of Miami team serve as the only critical peer-reviewed examination of the pharmacology of the lethal-injection process.


title: Lethal injection

text: On occasion, difficulties inserting the intravenous needles have also occurred, with personnel sometimes taking over half an hour to find a suitable vein. Typically, the difficulty is found in convicts with diabetes or a history of intravenous drug use. Opponents argue that excessive time taken to insert intravenous lines is tantamount to cruel and unusual punishment. In addition, opponents point to instances where the intravenous line has failed, or when adverse reactions to drugs or unnecessary delays have happened during the process of execution.


title: Lethal injection

text: On December 13, 2006, Angel Nieves Diaz was not executed successfully in Florida using a standard lethal-injection dose. Diaz was 55 years old and had been sentenced to death for murder. Diaz did not succumb to the lethal dose even after 35 minutes, necessitating a second dose of drugs to complete the execution. At first, a prison spokesman denied Diaz had suffered pain and claimed the second dose was needed because Diaz had some sort of liver disease. After performing an autopsy, the medical examiner, Dr. William Hamilton, stated that Diaz's liver appeared normal, but that the needle had pierced through Diaz's vein into his flesh. The deadly chemicals had subsequently been injected into soft tissue rather than into the vein. Two days after the execution, then-Governor Jeb Bush suspended all executions in the state and appointed a commission "to consider the humanity and constitutionality of lethal injections." The ban was lifted by Governor Charlie Crist when he signed the death warrant for Mark Dean Schwab on July 18, 2007. On November 1, 2007, the Florida Supreme Court unanimously upheld the state's lethal-injection procedures.


title: Lethal injection

text: A study published in 2007 in "PLOS Medicine" suggested that "the conventional view of lethal injection leading to an invariably peaceful and painless death is questionable".


title: Lethal injection

text: The execution of Romell Broom was abandoned in Ohio on September 15, 2009, after prison officials failed to find a vein after two hours of trying on his arms, legs, hands, and ankle. This stirred up more intense debate in the United States about lethal injection. Broom's execution was later rescheduled for March 2022, but he died in 2020 before the sentence could be carried out.


title: Lethal injection

text: Dennis McGuire was executed in Lucasville, Ohio, on January 17, 2014. According to reporters, McGuire's execution took more than 20 minutes, and he was gasping for air for 10–13 minutes after the drugs had been administered. It was the first use of a new drug combination which was introduced in Ohio after the European Union banned sodium thiopental exports. This reignited criticism of the conventional three-drug method.


title: Lethal injection

text: Clayton Lockett died of a heart attack during a failed execution attempt on April 29, 2014, at Oklahoma State Penitentiary in McAlester, Oklahoma. Lockett was administered an untested mixture of drugs that had not previously been used for executions in the U.S. He survived for 43 minutes before being pronounced dead. Lockett convulsed and spoke during the process and attempted to rise from the execution table 14 minutes into the procedure, despite having been declared unconscious.


title: Lethal injection

text: Lethal injection, by design, is outwardly ambiguous with respect to what can be seen by witnesses. The 8th amendment of the US constitution proscribes cruel punishment but only the punished can accurately gauge the experience of cruelty. In execution, the inmate is unable to be a witness to their own execution, so it falls on the assembled witnesses to decide. Eyewitnesses to execution report very different observations, and these differences range from an opinion that the execution was painless to comments that the execution was highly problematic. Post mortem examinations of inmates executed by lethal injection have revealed a common finding of heavily congested lungs consistent with pulmonary edema. The occurrence of pulmonary edema found at autopsy raises the question about the actual cruelty of lethal injection. If pulmonary edema occurs as a consequence of lethal injection, the experience of death may be more akin to drowning than simply the painless death described by lethal injection proponents. Pulmonary edema can only occur if the inmate has heart function and cannot occur after death.


title: Lethal injection

text: Due to its use for executions in the US, the UK introduced a ban on the export of sodium thiopental in December 2010, after it was established that no European supplies to the US were being used for any other purpose. The restrictions were based on "the European Union Torture Regulation (including licensing of drugs used in execution by lethal injection)". From December 21, 2011, the European Union extended trade restrictions to prevent the export of certain medicinal products for capital punishment, stating, "The Union disapproves of capital punishment in all circumstances and works towards its universal abolition".


title: Lethal injection

text: The combination of a barbiturate induction agent and a nondepolarizing paralytic agent is used in thousands of anesthetics every day. Supporters of the death penalty argue that unless anesthesiologists have been wrong for the past 40 years, the use of pentothal and pancuronium is safe and effective. In fact, potassium is given in heart bypass surgery to induce cardioplegia. Therefore, the combination of these three drugs is still in use today. Supporters of the death penalty speculate that the designers of the lethal-injection protocols intentionally used the same drugs as are used in everyday surgery to avoid controversy. The only modification is that a massive coma-inducing dose of barbiturates is given. In addition, similar protocols have been used in countries that support euthanasia or physician-assisted suicide.


title: Lethal injection

text: Thiopental is a rapid and effective drug for inducing unconsciousness, since it causes loss of consciousness upon a single circulation through the brain due to its high lipophilicity. Only a few other drugs, such as methohexital, etomidate, or propofol, have the capability to induce anesthesia so rapidly. (Narcotics such as fentanyl are inadequate as induction agents for anesthesia.) Supporters argue that since the thiopental is given at a much higher dose than for medically induced coma protocols, it is effectively impossible for the condemned to wake up.


title: Lethal injection

text: Anesthesia awareness occurs when general anesthesia is inadequately maintained, for a number of reasons. Typically, anesthesia is 'induced' with an intravenous drug, but 'maintained' with an inhaled anesthetic given by the anesthesiologist or nurse-anesthetist (note that there are several other methods for safely and effectively maintaining anesthesia). Barbiturates are used only for induction of anesthesia and although these drugs rapidly and reliably induce anesthesia, wear off quickly. A neuromuscular-blocking drug may then be given to cause paralysis which facilitates intubation, although this is not always required. The anesthesiologist or nurse-anesthetist is responsible for ensuring that the maintenance technique (typically inhalational) is started soon after induction to prevent the patient from waking up.


title: Lethal injection

text: General anesthesia is not maintained with barbiturate drugs because they are so short-acting. An induction dose of thiopental wears off after a few minutes because the thiopental redistributes from the brain to the rest of the body very quickly. Also thiopental has a long half-life and needs time for the drug to be eliminated from the body. If a very large initial dose is given, little or no redistribution takes place because the body is saturated with the drug; thus recovery of consciousness requires the drug to be eliminated from the body. Because this process is not only slow (taking many hours or days), but also unpredictable in duration, barbiturates are unsatisfactory for the maintenance of anesthesia.


title: Lethal injection

text: Thiopental has a half-life around 11.5 hours (but the action of a single dose is terminated within a few minutes by redistribution of the drug from the brain to peripheral tissues) and the long-acting barbiturate phenobarbital has a half-life around 4–5 days. In contrast, the inhaled anesthetics have extremely short half-lives and allow the patient to wake up rapidly and predictably after surgery.


title: Lethal injection

text: The average time to death once a lethal-injection protocol has been started is about 7–11 minutes. Because it takes only about 30 seconds for the thiopental to induce anesthesia, 30–45 seconds for the pancuronium to cause paralysis, and about 30 seconds for the potassium to stop the heart, death can theoretically be attained in as little as 90 seconds. Given that it takes time to administer the drug, time for the line to flush itself, time for the change of the drug being administered, and time to ensure that death has occurred, the whole procedure takes about 7–11 minutes. Procedural aspects in pronouncing death also contribute to delay, so the condemned is usually pronounced dead within 10–20 minutes of starting the drugs. Supporters of the death penalty say that a huge dose of thiopental, which is between 14 and 20 times the anesthetic-induction dose and which has the potential to induce a medical coma lasting 60 hours, could never wear off in only 10–20 minutes.


title: Lethal injection

text: Death-penalty supporters state that the claim that pancuronium dilutes the sodium thiopental dose is erroneous. Supporters argue that pancuronium and thiopental are commonly used together in everyday surgery and that if there were a dilution effect, it would be a known drug interaction.


title: Lethal injection

text: Drug interactions are a complex topic. Simplistically, drug interactions can be classified as either synergistic or inhibitory interactions. In addition, drug interactions can occur directly at the site of action through common pathways, or indirectly through metabolism of the drug in the liver or through elimination in the kidney. Pancuronium and thiopental have different sites of action, one in the brain and one at the neuromuscular junction. Since the half-life of thiopental is 11.5 hours, the metabolism of the drugs is not an issue when dealing with the short time frame in lethal injections. The only other plausible interpretation would be a direct one, or one in which the two compounds interact with each other. Supporters of the death penalty argue that this theory does not hold true. They state that even if the 100 mg of pancuronium directly prevented 500 mg of thiopental from working, sufficient thiopental to induce coma would be present for 50 hours. In addition, if this interaction did occur, then the pancuronium would be incapable of causing paralysis.


title: Lethal injection

text: Supporters of the death penalty state that the claim that the pancuronium prevents the thiopental from working, yet is still capable of causing paralysis, is not based on any scientific evidence and is a drug interaction that has never before been documented for any other drugs.


title: Lethal injection

text: Terminally ill patients in Oregon who have requested physician-assisted suicide have received lethal doses of barbiturates. The protocol has been highly effective in producing a painless death, but the time required to cause death can be prolonged. Some patients have taken days to die, and a few patients have actually survived the process and have regained consciousness up to three days after taking the lethal dose. In a California legal proceeding addressing the issue of the lethal-injection cocktail being "cruel and unusual," state authorities said that the time to death following a single injection of a barbiturate could be as much as 45 minutes.


title: Lethal injection

text: Barbiturate overdoses typically cause death by depression of the respiratory center, but the effect is variable. Some patients may have complete cessation of respiratory drive, whereas others may only have depression of respiratory function. In addition, cardiac activity can last for a long time after cessation of respiration. Since death is pronounced after asystole and given that the expectation is for a rapid death in lethal injection, multiple drugs are required, specifically potassium chloride to stop the heart. In fact, in the case of Clarence Ray Allen, a second dose of potassium chloride was required to attain asystole.


title: Lethal injection

text: A 2017 study found that four U.S. states that allow capital punishment are stockpiling lethal-injection drugs that are in short supply and may be needed for life-saving medical procedures elsewhere.


title: Bernese Mountain Dog

text: The Bernese Mountain Dog () is a large dog breed, one of the four breeds of Sennenhund-type dogs from Bern, Switzerland and the Swiss Alps. These dogs have roots in the Roman mastiffs. The name "Sennenhund" is derived from the German "Senne" ("alpine pasture") and "Hund" (hound/dog), as they accompanied the alpine herders and dairymen called "Senn". "Berner" (or "Bernese" in English) refers to the area of the breed's origin, in the canton of Bern. This breed was originally kept as a general farm dog. Large Sennenhunde in the past were also used as draft animals, pulling carts. The breed was officially established in 1912.


title: Bernese Mountain Dog

text: The four breeds of Sennenhund, with the original breed name, followed by the most popular English version of the breed name are:


title: Bernese Mountain Dog

text: Like the other Sennenhund, the Bernese mountain dog is a large, heavy dog with a distinctive tri-colored coat, black with white chest and rust-colored markings above eyes, sides of the mouth, front of legs, and out around the white chest. However, it is the only breed of Sennenhund dogs with a long coat. The ideal of a perfectly marked individual gives the impression of a white horseshoe shape around the nose, which is always black. There is a white “Swiss cross” on the chest when viewed from the front. A “Swiss kiss” is a white mark located typically behind the neck, but may be a part of the neck. A full ring would not meet the type standard. The AKC breed standard lists, as disqualifications, blue eye color, and any ground color other than black.


title: Bernese Mountain Dog

text: Considered a dry-mouthed breed, the Bernese mountain dog is slightly longer than it is tall, highly muscular, with a strong, wide back. The head of a Bernese mountain dog is flat on the top with a moderate stop, and the ears are medium-sized, triangular, set high, and rounded at the top. The teeth have a scissors bite. The legs of the Bernese are straight and strong, with round, arched toes. The dewclaws of the Bernese are often removed. Its bushy tail is carried low.


title: Bernese Mountain Dog

text: The breed standard for the Bernese mountain dog states that dogs should not be "aggressive, anxious or distinctly shy", but rather should be "good-natured", "self-assured", "placid towards strangers", and "docile". It only attacks if really needed (its owner is getting attacked). The temperament of individual dogs may vary, and not all examples of the breed have been bred carefully to follow the standard. All large breed dogs should be well socialized when they are puppies, and given regular training and activities throughout their lives.


title: Bernese Mountain Dog

text: Bernese are outdoor dogs at heart, though well-behaved in the house; they need activity and exercise, but do not have a great deal of endurance. They can move with amazing bursts of speed for their size when motivated. If they are sound (no problems with their hips, elbows, or other joints), they enjoy hiking and generally stick close to their people. Not being given the adequate amount of exercise may lead to barking and harassing in the Bernese.


title: Bernese Mountain Dog

text: Bernese mountain dogs are a breed that generally does well with children, as they are very affectionate. They are patient dogs that take well to children climbing over them. Though they have great energy, a Bernese will also be happy with a calm evening.


title: Bernese Mountain Dog

text: Bernese work well with other pets and around strangers. They are excellent guardians. They tend to bond with one owner or family, and are somewhat aloof and standoffish towards strangers.


title: Bernese Mountain Dog

text: Historically, in some locales at least, the breed was called a "Dürrbachhund" or "Dürrbächler", for a small town (Dürrbach) where the large dogs were especially frequent.


title: Bernese Mountain Dog

text: The breed was used as an all purpose farm dog for guarding property and to drive dairy cattle long distances from the farm to the alpine pastures. The farmers used the dogs to transport their carts of milk and cheese and were known by the locals as "Cheese Dogs." In the early 1900s, fanciers exhibited the few examples of the large dogs at shows in Berne, and in 1907 a few breeders from the Burgdorf region founded the first breed club, the "Schweizerische Dürrbach-Klub", and wrote the first Standard which defined the dogs as a separate breed. By 1910, there were already 107 registered members of the breed. There is a photo of a working Bernese Mountain Dog, dated 1905 at the Fumee Fall rest area in Quinnesec, MI.


title: Bernese Mountain Dog

text: In 1937, the American Kennel Club recognized it; today, the club classifies it as a member of the Working Group. In the US the Bernese Mountain Dog is growing in popularity, ranking in 32nd place by the American Kennel Club in 2013.


title: Bernese Mountain Dog

text: These dogs are very popular as family dogs in German-speaking countries, where they are among the most popular dog breeds (for example, the German Association of Dog Breeders listed the Bernese at the 11th rank per live births in 2014).


title: Bernese Mountain Dog

text: Cancer is the leading cause of death for dogs in general, but Bernese Mountain Dogs have a much higher rate of fatal cancer than other breeds; in both U.S./Canada and UK surveys, nearly half of Bernese Mountain Dogs die of cancer, compared to about 27% of all dogs. Bernese Mountain Dogs are killed by many types of cancer, including malignant histiocytosis, mast cell tumor, lymphosarcoma, fibrosarcoma, and osteosarcoma. Inherited medical problems that a Bernese Mountain Dog may face include malignant histiocytosis, hypomyelinogenesis, progressive retinal atrophy, and possibly cataracts and hypoadrenocorticism. The breed is also prone to histiocytic sarcoma, a cancer of the muscle tissue that is very aggressive, and hereditary eye diseases that are common among larger dogs. A four-year-old Bernese with lymphoma named Dylan was one of the first dogs to receive chemotherapy at the Virginia-Maryland Regional College of Veterinary Medicine, and it was successful.


title: Bernese Mountain Dog

text: Bernese Mountain Dogs have an unusually high mortality due to musculoskeletal causes. Arthritis, hip dysplasia, and cruciate ligament rupture were reported as the cause of death in 6% of Bernese Mountain Dogs in the UK study; for comparison, mortality due to musculoskeletal ailments was reported to be less than 2% for pure-bred dogs in general. Owners of Bernese Mountain Dogs are nearly three times as likely as owners of other breeds to report musculoskeletal problems in their dogs; the most commonly reported being cruciate ligament rupture, arthritis (especially in shoulders and elbows), hip dysplasia, and osteochondritis. The age at onset for musculoskeletal problems is also unusually low. In the U.S./Canada study, 11% of living dogs had arthritis at an average age of 4.3 years. Most other common, non-musculoskeletal morbidity issues strike Berners at rates similar to other breeds. Prospective Bernese Mountain Dog owners should be prepared to cope with a large dog that may have mobility problems at a young age. Options to help mobility-impaired dogs may include ramps for car or house access, lifting harnesses and slings, and dog wheelchairs (ex: Walkin' Wheels). Comfortable bedding may help alleviate joint pain. Due to these common medical issues, owners of Bernese Mountain Dogs should make sure that their dogs receive OFA and CERF certificates.


title: Bernese Mountain Dog

text: The Bernese is one of the shortest-lived dog breeds, compared both to other breeds of a similar size and to purebred dogs in general. The average life expectancy of a Bernese Mountain Dog is approximately 8 to 9 years. Most other breeds of a similar size have median longevities of 10–11 years. In a 2004 UK survey, the longest-lived of 394 deceased Bernese Mountain Dogs died at the age of 15.2 years.


title: Bernese Mountain Dog

text: The Bernese's calm temperament makes them a natural for pulling small carts or wagons, a task they originally performed in Switzerland. With proper training they enjoy giving children rides in a cart or participating in a parade, such as the Conway, New Hampshire holiday parade. Regional Bernese clubs often offer carting workshops. Carting competitions are held for the breed.


title: Bernese Mountain Dog

text: On July 1, 2010, the Bernese Mountain Dog became eligible to compete in AKC Herding Events. Herding instincts and trainability can be measured at noncompetitive herding tests. Berners exhibiting basic herding instincts can be trained to compete in herding trials.


title: Bernese Mountain Dog

text: Bernese Mountain Dogs shed year-round, and the heaviest shedding is during seasonal changes. Usually the Bernese will only require a brushing once a week, with more in spring and fall, to keep its coat neat and reduce the amount of fur on the floor and furniture. The Bernese will only require a bath about once every couple of months or so, depending on how high its activity level is and how often it spends its time in the dirt.


title: Bernese Mountain Dog

text: Special attention should be paid to the ears of the Bernese Mountain Dog, as they can trap bacteria, dirt, and liquid. The risk of an ear infection drops with weekly ear cleanings using a veterinarian-recommended cleanser.


title: Christopher Masterson

text: Christopher Kennedy Masterson (born January 22, 1980) is an American actor and disc jockey known best for his role as Malcolm's oldest brother Francis on the Fox sitcom "Malcolm in the Middle". He is the younger brother of Danny Masterson, and the older half-brother of Alanna Masterson and Jordan Masterson.


title: Christopher Masterson

text: Masterson played Geoff in the direct-to-video movie "", the sequel to "Dragonheart". Masterson is best known for his role as Francis, the trouble-making oldest brother of Frankie Muniz's title character in the Fox sitcom "Malcolm in the Middle". He took on the role for seven years, from 2000 to 2006. In 2003, he played Edward Linton in MTV's "Wuthering Heights". Masterson portrayed a lead character in the films "Scary Movie 2", "Waterborne", "Made for Each Other" and "Intellectual Property". He guest starred in three episodes of "That '70s Show", alongside his brother, Danny. In the USA Network television series "White Collar", he played Josh Roland in the episode "Where There's a Will". He also played Scotty O'Neal in the movie "My Best Friend's Wedding". In 2012, Masterson had a guest role on the TBS series "Men at Work" as a concierge named Archie. His brother, Danny Masterson, plays Milo on the show, but the two did not share any scenes together.


title: Christopher Masterson

text: Masterson was born on Long Island, New York, the son of Carol Masterson, a manager, and Peter Masterson, an insurance agent. Masterson, like his brother Danny Masterson, is a follower of Scientology. The two have invested in restaurants together. He also has a half-sister, actress Alanna Masterson, and a half-brother, actor Jordan Masterson. Masterson was in a relationship with his brother's "That ‘70s Show" co-star Laura Prepon from 1999 to 2007.


title: Christopher Masterson

text: On June 25, 2019, Masterson married actress Yolanda Pecoraro. In April 2021, she gave birth to their daughter Chiara.


title: Tom Hopper

text: Thomas Edward Hopper (born 28 January 1985) is a British actor. He has appeared as Percival in "Merlin", Billy Bones in "Black Sails", Dickon Tarly in "Game of Thrones", and Luther Hargreeves in "The Umbrella Academy".


title: Tom Hopper

text: Thomas Edward Hopper was born on 28 January 1985 in Coalville, Leicestershire. He attended Newbridge High School and Ashby School, where he first developed an interest in acting. He enrolled in a drama class and appeared in a production of the musical "Return to the Forbidden Planet". He studied acting at Rose Bruford College.


title: Tom Hopper

text: Hopper was cast in "As You Like It" at the Watford Palace Theatre and has appeared in various television programmes and films including "Saxon", "Casualty", "Kingdom" and "Doctors". Hopper portrayed Marcus in the comedy-horror film, "Tormented" about a bullied teenager who comes back from the dead to take revenge on his classmates. The film was released in May 2009.


title: Tom Hopper

text: In 2010, he was in an episode of "Doctor Who". Hopper played Sir Percival in the BBC series "Merlin". He joined the series in the third season in 2010, and was a regular for the next two seasons. After "Merlin" ended in 2012, he featured in "Good Cop" in 2012. In 2013, Hopper starred in "Cold", directed and written by his "Merlin" co-star Eoin Macken. The film was later released in the United States as "Leopard". In 2014, Hopper starred as Asbjörn in "".


title: Tom Hopper

text: Hopper became the first actor to join the Starz series "Black Sails", in which he portrayed Billy Bones. The pirate drama serves as a prequel to Robert Louis Stevenson's "Treasure Island". Hopper deliberately chose to play Bones as a "selfless person, looking out for his crew", believing that the character would have changed dramatically in the time period between "Black Sails" and "Treasure Island". The show was filmed on location in South Africa.


title: Tom Hopper

text: In 2016, Hopper appeared in the thriller "Kill Ratio" and an episode of "Barbarians Rising". The following year, he joined the cast of the HBO series "Game of Thrones" in season 7 as Dickon Tarly, replacing Freddie Stroma who had previously appeared in the role in season 6. In 2018, Hopper appeared alongside Amy Schumer in "I Feel Pretty". In 2019, Hopper appeared as Luther Hargreeves in "The Umbrella Academy". For the role, Hopper wore a muscle suit to achieve the correct look and underwent martial arts training.


title: Tom Hopper

text: Hopper appeared in the 2020 film "". In March 2019, he joined the cast of "Hitman's Wife's Bodyguard".


title: Ilhan Omar

text: Ilhan Abdullahi Omar (born October 4, 1982) is an American politician serving as the U.S. representative for since 2019. She is a member of the Democratic–Farmer–Labor Party. Before her election to Congress, Omar served in the Minnesota House of Representatives from 2017 to 2019, representing part of Minneapolis. Her congressional district includes all of Minneapolis and some of its first-ring suburbs.


title: Ilhan Omar

text: Omar serves as whip of the Congressional Progressive Caucus and has advocated for a $15 minimum wage, universal healthcare, student loan debt forgiveness, the protection of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, and abolishing U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). A frequent critic of Israel, Omar supports the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement and has denounced its settlement policy and military campaigns in the occupied Palestinian territories, as well as what she describes as the influence of pro-Israel lobbies.


title: Ilhan Omar

text: Omar is the first Somali American and the first naturalized citizen of African birth in the United States Congress, and the first woman of color to represent Minnesota. She is also one of the first two Muslim women (along with Rashida Tlaib) to serve in Congress. She has been the target of several death threats, harassment by political opponents, and false and misleading claims by Donald Trump.


title: Ilhan Omar

text: Omar was born in Mogadishu, Somalia, on October 4, 1982, and spent her early years in Baidoa, Somalia. She was the youngest of seven siblings, including sister Sahra Noor. Her father, Nur Omar Mohamed, an ethnic Somali from the Majeerteen clan of Northeastern Somalia, was a colonel in the Somali army under Siad Barre and also worked as a teacher trainer. Her mother, Fadhuma Abukar Haji Hussein, a Benadiri, died when Ilhan was two. She was raised by her father and grandfather, who were moderate Sunni Muslims opposed to the rigid Wahhabi interpretation of Islam. Her grandfather Abukar was the director of Somalia's National Marine Transport, and some of Omar's uncles and aunts also worked as civil servants and educators. She and her family fled Somalia to escape the Somali Civil War and spent four years in a Dadaab refugee camp in Garissa County, Kenya, near the Somali border.


title: Ilhan Omar

text: Omar's family secured asylum in the U.S. and arrived in New York in 1995, then lived for a time in Arlington, Virginia, before moving to and settling in Minneapolis, where her father worked first as a taxi driver and later for the post office. Her father and grandfather emphasized the importance of democracy during her upbringing, and at age 14 she accompanied her grandfather to caucus meetings, serving as his interpreter. She has spoken about school bullying she endured during her time in Virginia, stimulated by her distinctive Somali appearance and wearing of the hijab. She recalls gum being pressed into her hijab, being pushed down stairs, and physical taunts while she was changing for gym class. Omar remembers her father's reaction to these incidents: "They are doing something to you because they feel threatened in some way by your existence." Omar became a U.S. citizen in 2000 when she was 17 years old.


title: Ilhan Omar

text: Omar attended Thomas Edison High School, from which she graduated in 2001, and volunteered as a student organizer. She graduated from North Dakota State University in 2011 with a bachelor's degree, majoring in political science and international studies. Omar was a Policy Fellow at the University of Minnesota's Humphrey School of Public Affairs.


title: Ilhan Omar

text: Omar began her professional career as a community nutrition educator at the University of Minnesota, working in that capacity from 2006 to 2009 in the Greater Minneapolis–Saint Paul area. In 2012, she served as campaign manager for Kari Dziedzic's reelection campaign for the Minnesota State Senate. Between 2012 and 2013, she was a child nutrition outreach coordinator at the Minnesota Department of Education.


title: Ilhan Omar

text: In 2013, Omar managed Andrew Johnson's campaign for Minneapolis City Council. After Johnson was elected, she served as his Senior Policy Aide from 2013 to 2015. During a contentious precinct caucus that turned violent in February 2014, she was attacked by five people and was injured. According to "MinnPost", the day before the caucus, Minneapolis city council member Abdi Warsame had told Johnson to warn Omar not to attend the meeting.


title: Ilhan Omar

text: As of September 2015, Omar was the Director of Policy Initiatives of the Women Organizing Women Network, advocating for women from East Africa to take on civic and political leadership roles. In September 2018, Jeff Cirillo of "Roll Call" called her a "progressive rising star."


title: Ilhan Omar

text: In 2016, Omar ran on the Democratic–Farmer–Labor (DFL) ticket for the Minnesota House of Representatives in District 60B, which includes part of northeast Minneapolis. On August 9, Omar defeated Mohamud Noor and incumbent Phyllis Kahn in the DFL primary. Her chief opponent in the general election was Republican nominee Abdimalik Askar, another activist in the Somali-American community. In late August, Askar announced his withdrawal from the campaign. In November, Omar won the general election, becoming the first Somali-American legislator in the United States. Her term began on January 3, 2017.


title: Ilhan Omar

text: During her tenure as state Representative for District 60B, Omar was an Assistant Minority Leader for the DFL caucus. She authored 38 bills during the 2017–2018 legislative session.


title: Ilhan Omar

text: In 2018, Republican state representative Steve Drazkowski publicly accused Omar of campaign finance violations, claiming that she used campaign funds to pay a divorce lawyer, and that her acceptance of speaking fees from public colleges violated Minnesota House rules. Omar responded that the attorney's fees were not personal but campaign-related; she offered to return the speaking fees. Drazkowski later accused Omar of improperly using campaign funds for personal travel to Estonia and locations in the U.S. Omar's campaign dismissed the accusations as politically motivated and accused Drazkowski of using public funds to harass a Muslim candidate. In response to an editorial in the Minneapolis "Star Tribune" arguing that Omar should be more transparent about her use of campaign funds, she said: "these people are part of systems that have historically been disturbingly motivated to silence, discredit and dehumanize influencers who threaten the establishment."


title: Ilhan Omar

text: In June 2019, Minnesota campaign finance officials ruled that Omar had to pay back $3,500 that she had spent on out-of-state travel and tax filing in violation of state law, plus a $500 fine. The Campaign Finance Board's investigation also found that in 2014 and 2015 Omar had jointly filed taxes with a man she was not legally married to. Unlike some states, Minnesota does not recognize common law marriage, and so such a joint filing is not legally permitted. But experts have said that if the taxpayer files a correction within three years, as Omar's attorney and accountants did in 2016, then there are normally no further consequences, and the Internal Revenue Service is unlikely to pursue punitive measures unless there is a large discrepancy or fraudulent intent. In response to the AP's request for comment, her campaign sent a statement saying, "all of Rep. Omar’s tax filings are fully compliant with all applicable tax law."


title: Ilhan Omar

text: On June 5, 2018, Omar filed to run for the United States House of Representatives from Minnesota's 5th congressional district after six-term incumbent Keith Ellison announced he would not seek reelection. On June 17, she was endorsed by the Minnesota Democratic–Farmer–Labor Party after two rounds of voting. Omar won the August 14 primary with 48.2% of the vote. The 5th district is the most Democratic district in Minnesota and the Upper Midwest, (it has a Cook Partisan Voting Index of D+26) and the DFL has held it without interruption since 1963. She faced health care worker and conservative activist Jennifer Zielinski in the November 6 general election and won with 78.0% of the vote, becoming the first Somali American elected to the U.S. Congress, the first woman of color to serve as a U.S. Representative from Minnesota, and (alongside former Michigan state representative Rashida Tlaib) one of the first Muslim women elected to the Congress.


title: Ilhan Omar

text: Omar received the largest percentage of the vote of any female candidate for U.S. House in state history, as well as the largest percentage of the vote for a non-incumbent candidate for U.S. House (excluding those running against only minor-party candidates) in state history. She was sworn in on a copy of the Quran owned by her grandfather.


title: Ilhan Omar

text: Omar won the Democratic nomination in the August 11 Democratic primary, in which she faced four opponents. The strongest was mediation lawyer Antone Melton-Meaux, who raised $3.2 million in April–June 2020, compared to about $500,000 by Omar; much of Melton-Meaux's funding came from pro-Israel groups. Melton-Meaux was also endorsed by Minnesota's largest newspaper, The "Star Tribune". This led some analysts to predict a close race, but Omar received 57.4% of the vote to Melton-Meaux's 39.2%. She defeated Republican Lacy Johnson and Legal Marijuana Now Party candidate Michael Moore in the November 3 general election, with 64.3% of the vote to Johnson's 25.8% and Moore's 9.5%. Omar's margin of victory was 24 points less than Biden's in the district, the highest underperformance of any Democrat in the nation, which Nathaniel Rakich of "FiveThirtyEight" attributed to increased Republican spending and Moore's progressive pro-marijuana campaign.


title: Ilhan Omar

text: In the August 9 Democratic primary, Omar faced former Minneapolis councilman Don Samuels and three other opponents. The campaign primarily focused on crime and Omar's effectiveness in office. Omar's campaign outspent Samuels's $2.1 million to $800,000; Samuels ran television ads while Omar's campaign did not. Omar won the primary with 50.3% of the vote to Samuels's 48.2%, a margin of less than 2,500 votes.


title: Ilhan Omar

text: Following Omar's election, the ban on head coverings in the U.S. House was modified, and Omar became the first woman to wear a hijab on the House floor. She is a member of the informal group known as "The Squad", whose members form a unified front to push for progressive changes such as the Green New Deal and Medicare for All. The other members of "The Squad" are Ayanna Pressley, Rashida Tlaib, and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.


title: Ilhan Omar

text: Brian Stelter of CNN Business found that from January to July 2019 Omar had around twice as many mentions on Fox News as on CNN and MSNBC, and about six times the coverage of James Clyburn, a Democratic leader in the House of Representatives. A CBS News and YouGov poll of almost 2,100 American adults conducted from July 17 to 19 found that Republican respondents were more aware of Omar than Democratic respondents. Omar has very unfavorable ratings among Republican respondents and favorable ratings among Democratic respondents. The same is true of the other three members of the Squad.


title: Ilhan Omar

text: In July 2019, Omar introduced a resolution co-sponsored by Rashida Tlaib and Georgia Representative John Lewis stating that "all Americans have the right to participate in boycotts in pursuit of civil and human rights at home and abroad, as protected by the First Amendment to the Constitution". The resolution "opposes unconstitutional legislative efforts to limit the use of boycotts to further civil rights at home and abroad", and "urges Congress, States, and civil rights leaders from all communities to endeavor to preserve the freedom of advocacy for all by opposing anti-boycott resolutions and legislation". In the same month, Omar was one of 17 Congress members to vote against a House resolution condemning the BDS movement.


title: Ilhan Omar

text: On January 7, 2021, Omar led a group of 13 House members introducing articles of impeachment against Trump on charges of high crimes and misdemeanors. The charges are related to Trump's alleged interference in the 2020 presidential election in Georgia and incitement of the attack at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C. by his supporters, which occurred during the certification of electoral votes in the 2020 presidential election that affirmed Joe Biden's victory.


title: Ilhan Omar

text: Speaking after the 2021 United States Capitol attack, Omar said the experience was very traumatizing and that the trauma would last a long time. She said she began to fear for her life when the evacuation began and as she was being escorted to a secure area she made a phone call to the father of her children to "make sure he would continue to tell my children that I loved them if I didn't make it out." She said, "The face of the Capitol will forever be changed. They didn't succeed in stopping the functions of democracy, but I do believe they succeeded in ending the openness of our democracy."


title: Ilhan Omar

text: Omar supports broader access to student loan forgiveness programs, as well as free tuition for college students whose family income is below $125,000. Omar supports Bernie Sanders's plan to eliminate all $1.6 trillion in outstanding student debt, funded by an 0.5% tax on stock transactions and a 0.1% tax on bond transactions; she introduced a companion bill in the House of Representatives. In June 2019, Omar and Senator Tina Smith introduced the No Shame at School Act, which would end the marking of—and punishment for—students with school meal debt.


title: Ilhan Omar

text: On July 19, 2022, after the Supreme Court overruled "Roe v. Wade" in "Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization", Omar and 17 other members of Congress were arrested in an act of civil disobedience for refusing to clear a street during a protest for reproductive rights outside the Supreme Court Building.


title: Ilhan Omar

text: Omar has criticized Saudi Arabia's human rights abuses and the Saudi Arabian-led intervention in Yemen. In October 2018, she tweeted: "The Saudi government might have been strategic at covering up the daily atrocities carried out against minorities, women, activists and even the #YemenGenocide, but the murder of #JamalKhashoggi should be the last evil act they are allowed to commit." She also called for a boycott of Saudi Arabia's regime, tweeting: "#BDSSaudi." The Saudi Arabian government responded by having dozens of anonymous Twitter troll accounts it controlled post tweets critical of Omar.


title: Ilhan Omar

text: Omar condemned China's treatment of its ethnic Uyghur people. In a "Washington Post" op-ed, Omar wrote, "Our criticisms of oppression and regional instability caused by Iran are not legitimate if we do not hold Egypt, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain to the same standards. And we cannot continue to turn a blind eye to repression in Saudi Arabiaa country that is consistently ranked among the worst of the worst human rights offenders." She also condemned the Assad regime in Syria. Omar criticized Trump's decision to impose further sanctions on Iran, saying the sanctions devastated the "country's middle class and increased hostility toward the United States, with tensions between the two countries rising to dangerous levels."


title: Ilhan Omar

text: Omar condemned the 2019 Sri Lanka Easter bombings, tweeting, "No person, of any faith, should be fearful in their house of worship."


title: Ilhan Omar

text: Omar opposed the October 2019 Turkish offensive into northeastern Syria, writing that "What has happened after Turkey's invasion of northeastern Syria is a disaster—tens of thousands of civilians have been forced to flee, hundreds of Islamic State fighters have escaped, and Turkish-backed rebels have been credibly accused of atrocities against the Kurds."


title: Ilhan Omar

text: In October 2019, Omar voted "present" on H.Res. 296, to recognize the Armenian genocide, causing a backlash. She said in a statement that "accountability and recognition of genocide should not be used as cudgel in a political fight" and argued that such a step should include both the Atlantic slave trade and the Native American genocide. In November, after her controversial vote, Omar publicly condemned the Armenian genocide at a rally for presidential candidate Bernie Sanders.


title: Ilhan Omar

text: In a March 2019 "Politico" interview Omar criticized Barack Obama's "caging of kids" along the Mexican border. Omar accused "Politico" of distorting her comments and said that she had been "saying how [President] Trump is different from Obama, and why we should focus on policy not politics," adding, "One is human, the other is really not."


title: Ilhan Omar

text: In June 2019, Omar was one of four Democratic representatives to vote against the Emergency Supplemental Appropriations for Humanitarian Assistance and Security at the Southern Border Act, a $4.5 billion border funding bill that required Customs and Border Protection to enact health standards for individuals in custody such as standards for "medical emergencies; nutrition, hygiene, and facilities; and personnel training." "Throwing more money at the very organizations committing human rights abuses—and the very Administration directing these human rights abuses—is not a solution. This is a humanitarian crisis ... inflicted by our own leadership," she said.


title: Ilhan Omar

text: On November 5, 2021, Omar was one of six House Democrats to break with their party and vote against the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act because it was decoupled from the social safety net provisions in the Build Back Better Act.


title: Ilhan Omar

text: While she was in the Minnesota legislature, Omar was critical of the Israeli government and opposed a law intended to restrict the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement. She compared the movement to people who "engage[d] in boycotts" of apartheid in South Africa. During her House campaign, she said she did not support the BDS movement, describing it as counterproductive to peace. After the election her position changed, as her campaign office told "Muslim Girl" that she supports the BDS movement despite "reservations on the effectiveness of the movement in accomplishing a lasting solution." Omar has voiced support for a two-state solution to resolve the Israeli–Palestinian conflict. She criticized Israel's settlement building in the occupied Palestinian territories in the West Bank.


title: Ilhan Omar

text: In 2018, Omar came under criticism for statements she made about Israel before she was in the Minnesota legislature. In a 2012 tweet, she wrote, "Israel has hypnotized the world, may Allah awaken the people and help them see the evil doings of Israel." The comment, particularly the notion that Israel had "hypnotized the world," was criticized as drawing on anti-Semitic tropes. Then-"The New York Times" columnist Bari Weiss wrote that Omar's statement tied into a millennia-old "conspiracy theory of the Jew as the hypnotic conspirator." When asked in an interview how she would respond to American Jews who found the remark offensive, Omar replied, "I don't know how my comments would be offensive to Jewish Americans. My comments precisely are addressing what was happening during the Gaza War and I'm clearly speaking about the way the Israeli regime was conducting itself in that war." After reading Weiss's commentary, Omar apologized for not "disavowing the anti-Semitic trope I unknowingly used."


title: Ilhan Omar

text: In September 2019, Omar condemned Benjamin Netanyahu's plans to annex the eastern portion of the occupied West Bank known as the Jordan Valley. Omar said Israelis should not vote for Netanyahu in the September 2019 Israeli legislative election.