Fact check: Claim about new death penalty procedure in Ohio is satire

Hannah Hudnall, USA TODAY
·2 min read
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The claim: Ohio is introducing new death penalty procedure involving decapitation

An April 6 Facebook video features a clip of a man reacting in surprise to what appears to be a news broadcast.

"OHIO INTRODUCES NEW DEATH PENALTY PROCEDURE," reads the chyron of the news broadcast.

"Ohio has replaced it with a system that quickly and humanely rips off the heads of death row inmates using powerful robotic arms," says the news anchor in the video. "The device is designed to be as humane as possible, emitting soothing white noise."

The post garnered more than 10,000 shares in less than three weeks, accumulating a vast number of comments from people believing it to be a real news story.

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Our rating: Satire

The video was created by the satirical website The Onion in 2014. Ohio still performs capital punishment via lethal injection.

Broadcast created as satire

The supposed broadcast was originally created by The Onion, a satire outlet, in 2014. The outlet's "ONN" logo, which stands for Onion News Network, can be seen in the bottom-right corner of the video.

The Onion's "About" page includes a satire disclaimer, which says the First Amendment protects satire as a form of free speech and expression.

"The Onion uses invented names in all of its stories, except in cases where public figures are being satirized," the page says.

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The full video from The Onion includes other clear indicators of its farcical nature, including the news anchor saying the Ohio Department of Corrections director called the killing machine "pain-free" because its claws are coated with topical anesthetic.

Ohio still uses lethal injection as its method of execution for death row inmates, as laid out in state law.

USA TODAY reached out to the user who shared the post for comment.

The claim has been debunked by Lead Stories and Reuters as well.

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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Fact check: Satirical claim that Ohio will behead death row inmates