First federal execution in 17 years; another set Wednesday

TERRE HAUTE, Ind. (AP) — The federal government has carried out its first execution in almost two decades. 47-year-old Daniel Lewis Lee was killed by lethal injection Tuesday at the federal prison in Terre Haute, Indiana. He was convicted of murdering an Arkansas family in a 1990s plot to build a whites-only nation in the Pacific Northwest. His last words were to proclaim his innocence. Lee is the first death row inmate to be executed since 2003. His execution came over the objection of the victims’ family and following a series of delays and legal challenges related to the coronavirus pandemic. Critics of the Trump administration argued the government was pushing capital punishment for political gain.