The recent uproar against the death penalty has been rampant on social media after the case of Brandon Bernard. Bernard was executed on Dec 11, and pronounced dead at 9:27 p.m. His crime was from when he was 18 and witnessed the shooting of Stacie and Todd Bagley. He was one of five gang members present, and the gunman, Christopher Vialva, was executed this past September.

Being 40 when executed, he was the youngest person in the United States to receive a death sentence in nearly 70 years for a crime committed when he was an adolescent. This case has been very high profile in the past couple of months, gaining attention from many politicians and celebrities. Kim Kardashian West was making several tweets out to Trump to reconsider his sentence. Many petitions were made on social media, especially TikTok, out to the supreme court, yet they denied them, with three justices issuing public dissents. After this, Trump was Bernard’s last hope, yet he did not act.

“Brandon’s execution is a stain on America’s criminal justice system. But I pray that even in his death, Brandon will advance his commitment to helping others by moving us closer to a time when this country does not pointlessly and maliciously kill young Black men who pose no threat to anyone,” Bernard’s attorney Robert Owen said in a statement. In a new hearing, Owen was planning on showing new evidence that was not present in Bernard’s 2000 trial. It was going to show ample evidence indicating that Bernard did not have a leadership role in the gang. He was not even a full-fledged member. “Five of the sentencing jurors came forward saying that if they had been aware of the undisclosed information, they would not have agreed to sentence Bernard to death,” Owen said.

Because of the recent attention brought to this case, many other unjust death penalties are being discussed. Dustin John Higgs was convicted in the kidnapping and murder of three women in 1996. Higgs did not kill any of his victims, but rather his co-defendant Willis Haynes. Haynes has said in court documents that Higgs did not threaten him, or force him to shoot. Higgs is scheduled for execution Jan.15.