Florida executing a white man for killing a black person

Florida is set to execute a white man for killing a black person for the first time in state history.

If his final appeals are denied, 53-year-old Mark Asay is to die by lethal injection on Thursday night at Florida State Prison. 

Asay, a white supremacist with swastika tattoos, was convicted by a jury of two racially motivated, premeditated murders in Jacksonville in 1987.

He as been on death row for almost three decades. 

His pending execution will be carried out for the first time with the help of a drug that has never been used previously in any US execution.

It is expected to be carried out using etomidate, an anesthetic that has been approved by the Florida Supreme Court. 

Death penalty experts say the drug is unproven, while state corrections officials say the choice has been reviewed. Two other drugs also will be used. 

His pending execution at Florida State Prison (above) will be carried out for the first time with the help of a drug that has never been used previously in any US execution

The execution is Florida’s first since the US Supreme Court halted the practice in the state more than 18 months ago. 

Governor Rick Scott signed the death warrant for Asay in January 2016.

Asay murdered Robert Booker and Robert McDowell and was sentenced to death in 1988.

He had shot Booker, a black man, after using a racial slur. He later killed McDowell, who was dressed as a woman, after offering to pay him for oral sex. 

Asay later said McDowell, who was not black, had cheated him in a drug deal.