Alabama was the first state to perform an execution with nitrogen hypoxia, in which nitrogen gas is administered through a mask to cause unconsciousness and death. It has now executed five people using the method. Louisiana has also used nitrogen hypoxia once, with a second prisoner who was set to be executed in March dying of natural causes three weeks before the scheduled execution date.
Rezgar Beigzadeh Babamiri, a father of three, volunteered to carry medical supplies to secret clinics treating injured demonstrators during protests in Iran, seeing it as a moral obligation.