A bill adding a firing squad as a means of execution for death row inmates in Tennessee passed the House Criminal Justice Committee and is now heading to the Finance, Ways, and Means Committee.

If the bill is passed, it would allow death row inmates to choose dying by a firing squad rather than lethal injection or electrocution.

Currently, Mississippi, Oklahoma, Utah and South Carolina allow death row inmates to die by firing squad.

Following this bill being discussed, State Representative Paul Sherrell is now apologizing after comments he made Tuesday suggesting Tennessee’s death row inmates be executed by “hanging by a tree.”

Sherrell’s comments took place during the House Criminal Justice Committee meeting.

Gloria Sweet-Love, President of the Tennessee State Conference of the NAACP responded to Sherrell’s comment:

“While debating the firing squad as a method of execution in the House of Representatives’ Criminal Justice Committee, Representative Paul Sherrell stated: “I think it’s a very good idea, and I was just wondering about, could I put an amendment on that it would include hanging by a tree, also?” Representative Sherrell’s comment is beyond disgusting. He is celebrating a particular form of execution used against African Americans in Tennessee and across the nation, including innocent and wrongfully convicted persons. In many parts of the South, lynchings took place in nearly every county as it exemplified racialized and anti-Black violence. We know from numerous research studies that Blacks are also disproportionately executed, especially when the alleged victim is White. Sherrell’s comment–with reference to the most detested form of racialized violence–appears to be tinged race. It is a sad day in Tennessee politics when a lawmaker publicly announces that he wants to resurrect the lynching tree. We demand an apology from Representative Sherrill and ask the House leadership to condemn statements advocating racialized violence.”

On Wednesday, a statement released from Sherrell:

“I regret that I used very poor judgment in voicing my support of a colleague’s bill in the Criminal Justice Committee on Tuesday. My exaggerated comments were intended to convey my belief that for the cruelest and most heinous crimes, a just society requires the death penalty in kind. Although a victim’s family cannot be restored when an execution is carried out, a lesser punishment undermines the value we place on protecting life. My intention was to express my support of families who often wait decades for justice. I sincerely apologize to anyone who may have been hurt or offended.”

The amendment proposing execution by firing squad comes as the state is currently revising the protocol used by the Department of Correction to execute death row inmates. At this time, executions in Tennessee have been halted while investigations continue into previous methods not following protocol.

Story courtesy in part by WVLT