EXCLUSIVE — A death row minister suing Oklahoma’s Department of Corrections for allegedly defaming him in the media said Monday he has received death threats after his multimillion-dollar lawsuit became public.
“I had some guy sending us messages, and he said he wanted to put me on a gurney and execute me in response to this,” the Rev. Jeff Hood told the Washington Examiner.
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Hood filed a $10 million federal lawsuit on Friday accusing Department of Corrections spokesman Josh Ward of making false and inflammatory statements against him in an attempt to prevent him from being present during the execution of Scott Eizember, whom Hood had spiritually advised.
“The words that Defendant Ward of the ODOC released worldwide have injured Plaintiff Hood’s reputation and caused obvious mental distress,” the suit filed in the U.S. District Court in Oklahoma City said.
ODOC had initially refused Hood’s request to be inside the execution chamber during the Jan. 12 lethal injection, citing Hood’s activism and stance on the death penalty. Ward’s statement also claimed Hood had “been arrested multiple times for such outbursts in other states, demonstrating a blatant disregard for the experiences of victims’ families and the solemnity of the process.”
“It made it seem like I’m just this total ass**** and just spitting in the faces of victims’ families, and that is just not true,” Hood said.
The Arkansas-based pastor has been arrested three times but told the Washington Examiner his “activism” in no way disrupted the proceedings. He added that such accusations have damaged his reputation and believes ODOC should be held accountable.
“These are the consequences of big government,” he said. “It’s wrong. It was a moment when they could kind of flex their muscles and get all Tucker Carlson on everybody and be like, ‘Yeah, we stuck it to this guy.'”
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Hood, who was eventually allowed to be present during the execution after the victim’s family requested it, said his case goes beyond whether a person believes in capital punishment.
“Any state that can kill its citizens has too much power, but this is about a state agency that basically convicted me of crimes that I have never been convicted of, never even been accused of,” he said.
Hood was first going to sue for an apology but joked he was talked out of it by his attorneys, who told him to sue for enough money to pay for lawyer fees and court costs as well as enough to cover college tuition for his five children.
“If they think I am dangerous now, wait until I get a pocket full of cash and pursue ending the death penalty in Oklahoma,” he said.
Eizember, 62, was convicted in the double murder of A.J. Cantrell, 76, and Patsy Cantrell, 70. Eizember broke into the couple’s home to watch his ex-girlfriend, who lived across the street. When the Cantrells came home, Eizember shot and killed Patsy Cantrell and then bludgeoned A.J. Cantrell. After killing the couple, Eizember broke into his ex-girlfriend’s home and attacked her son and mother before fleeing. He was on the run for months but was captured after he was shot by a man he had attempted to hold hostage in Texas.
“There’s nothing more lonely than trying to humanize someone like Scott Eizember, who beat two old people to death, but at the same time, I feel very called to standing with those who nobody else will stand with,” Hood said.
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The Supreme Court ruled in March 2022 that states must accommodate the wishes of death row inmates to have their pastors pray out loud or even touch them during their executions.
ODOC said it does not comment on pending litigation.
