Gas Chamber Chair Removed, San Quentin Death Chamber Closed
SAN QUENTIN (CBS13) – The death chamber at San Quentin State Prison has been closed.
In photos posted by the California Governor's Office on Wednesday, the gas chamber chair can be seen being hauled out of the room. Signs were also posted, reading: "Lethal Injection Facility is CLOSED per Executive Order N-09-19" and "Gas Chamber CLOSED per Executive Order "N-09-19."
Gov. Gavin Newsom signed an executive order on Wednesday placing a moratorium on executions. He called the death penalty "a failure."
"This is about who I am as a human being, this is about what I can or cannot do; to me this was the right thing to do," Gov. Newsom said at the Wednesday press conference announcing the executive order.
A total of 737 inmates are on death row, which is housed at San Quentin. Of those, there are 49 inmates from the Sacramento and surrounding area affected by the order.
Newsom's order has been criticized by President Donald Trump.
"Friends and families of the always forgotten VICTIMS are not thrilled, and neither am I!" Trump tweeted.
No one has been executed in California since 2006.