US President-elect Donald Trump on Tuesday criticized outgoing President Joe Biden for commuting the sentences of 37 individuals on federal death row, calling it a blow to the families and friends of the victims.
“Joe Biden just commuted the Death Sentence on 37 of the worst killers in our Country. When you hear the acts of each, you won’t believe that he did this. Makes no sense. Relatives and friends are further devastated. They can’t believe this is happening!” Trump wrote on Truth Social.
On Monday, Biden commuted the sentences of 37 out of the 40 individuals on federal death row, replacing their death penalties with life imprisonment without the possibility of parole.
The list includes at least five child killers and several mass murderers, according to media reports.
In his statement, Biden emphasized that he condemns these murderers, grieves for the victims of their “despicable acts,” and aches for all the families who have suffered “unimaginable and irreparable loss.”
At the same time, the outgoing president said he is “more convinced than ever” that the US must stop the use of the death penalty at the federal level.
The three individuals who did not get a commutation are Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, who perpetrated the April 2013 Boston Marathon bombings that killed three, white supremacist Dylann Roof, who killed nine African Americans in a Charleston church in June 2015, and Robert Bowers, who carried out the October 2018 Pittsburgh synagogue shooting that claimed 11 lives.
