Arizona has provoked outrage after a leaked report allegedly revealed it intends on using Zyklon B in state executions.
Zyklon B is a hydrogen cyanide poison gas compound that was infamously used by the Nazis to implement Adolf Hitler's Final Solution - a campaign of genocide against Jews, Slavs, Romani, and other minority groups in fascist death camps during World War II.
According to documents acquired by The Guardian, Arizona's Department of Corrections has bought more than $2,000 worth of ingredients to manufacture Zyklon B.
The plans allege that the Arizona State Prison Complex in Florence has been stockpiling the chemical in the event that its gas chamber, which was decommissioned indefinitely in 1999 following a botched execution, is ever reinstated.
These papers also state that prison staff have conducted mock executions and have tested the structural integrity of the building by setting off smoke grenades to check for potential leaks.
In addition to this, Arizona's State Prison Complex has also purchased $1.5 million worth of pentobarbital in October 2020; a sedative used during lethal injections.
Commenting on the leak, executive director of the Death Penalty Information Center Robert Dunham told the above publication:
"You have to wonder what Arizona was thinking in believing that in 2021 it is acceptable to execute people in a gas chamber with cyanide gas. Did they have anybody study the history of the Holocaust?"
On Twitter, a number of social media users have reacted with dismay and outrage to the news.
One person wrote: "I love America. But sometimes what they do regarding death row is maddening. So inhumane."
Another asked: "Isn’t this unconstitutional?"
While a third added: "Makes me feel sick."
However, others since have pointed out that Zyklon B is the trade name the chemical compound, and that it boasted a variety of applications prior to and after World War II.
One Twitter user wrote: "The same formulation as Degesch Zyklon-B is still sold as Cyanosil and Uragan D2 for use as a delousing and fumigation agent."
A fumigation product similar to Zyklon B was in production by Lučební závody Draslovka in the Czech Republic until 2015, under the trade name "Uragan D2", which roughly translates as "hurricane" or "cyclone."