A faith leader who has made opposing capital punishment his cause has brought his campaign to Boise, erecting a billboard calling on Idaho officials to halt firing squad executions — with convicted killer Tom Creech specifically named as the immediate concern.

The billboard, which reads “Don’t shoot Tom Creech! Stop firing squad executions,” was paid for by the Execution Intervention Project, an organization led by Rev. Dr. Jeff Hood. Hood held a press conference Tuesday to voice his opposition to Idaho’s use of the firing squad as an execution method.

A Controversial Figure at the Center of the Debate

Tom Creech is no ordinary death row inmate. Ada County prosecutors note he was convicted in five separate murders and admitted to killing more than 40 people. He received his death sentence in 1983 after beating a fellow inmate to death while already incarcerated.

Idaho’s adoption of the firing squad as a primary execution method traces directly to a failed lethal injection attempt on Creech. Medical personnel were unable to locate a suitable vein to place an IV line, leaving the execution incomplete. Lawmakers responded by approving the firing squad as the state’s primary method during the 2025 legislative session, and Gov. Brad Little signed the measure into law.

Little has been direct about his role in the process. “As governor, my job is to follow the law and ensure that lawful criminal sentences are carried out,” he has said.

Hood’s Argument: A Matter of Souls

Hood framed his opposition in explicitly spiritual terms, arguing that the act of carrying out firing squad executions places a moral burden on the state and its residents. “I am concerned about the people of Idaho and their souls. Because this is evil,” he said at Tuesday’s press conference.

Hood’s advocacy goes beyond rhetoric. He previously pursued legal action seeking the right to be present inside the execution chamber and physically touch inmates at the moment of death — a practice he describes as a form of spiritual accompaniment. He stated he would do the same during a firing squad execution if the inmate requested it.

Legal Challenges Already Underway

Hood’s billboard campaign is not the only pressure Idaho officials are facing over the firing squad law. Two Idaho death row inmates have filed suit challenging the firing squad statute, arguing the method raises constitutional concerns. That legal fight is proceeding separately from Hood’s public advocacy effort.

The combination of courtroom challenges and public pressure campaigns reflects the intensity of the debate that followed the Legislature’s decision to codify the firing squad as the state’s default execution method — a choice driven, in large part, by the practical failure of lethal injection in Creech’s case.

Idaho’s Position in a National Debate

Idaho is among a small number of states that have moved toward the firing squad in recent years, as pharmaceutical manufacturers have increasingly restricted the sale of lethal injection drugs to corrections departments. The Legislature’s 2025 action was a direct policy response to that constraint, not an ideologically novel move.

Supporters of the change argued that the firing squad is a reliable and humane method when properly administered, and that the state has a legal and moral obligation to carry out sentences imposed by courts after due process. Critics, including Hood and the inmates who have filed suit, contend the method is barbaric regardless of its reliability.

Hood’s Execution Intervention Project appears focused on building public pressure ahead of any scheduled execution. Whether the billboard campaign shifts public opinion in a state where the Legislature moved decisively on the issue remains to be seen.

For now, the legal challenges moving through the courts may ultimately determine the timeline more than any advocacy effort. Idaho’s approach to capital punishment — and the Creech case in particular — continues to draw national attention as the state navigates the intersection of law, policy, and conscience.