This article originally appeared at Baptist News Global on August 16, 2026.
We now have reached the stage in MAGA’s descent into depravity where they respond to criticism of ICE vigilantes shooting people by opting for the more humane practice of electrocution.
On Aug. 11, the Associated Press reported that Immigration and Customs Enforcement has plans to acquire $20 million worth of gloves that agents can use to grab and shock people into compliance as part of a “de-escalation” strategy.
As concerned citizens began posting about it on social media, far-right extremists came to the Trump administration’s defense. In one post I made on Facebook, conservatives responded by joking: “Free shock therapy for liberals!” and “Electric-shock gloves are dope as heck. I’m surprised nobody thought of that sooner” and “Shock and awe those mfrs” and “This is gonna be awesome to watch.”
Those were some of the more tame comments.
But while the Right looks forward to electrocuting immigrants, the unfortunate reality is that this technology isn’t new. It’s already been used on prisoners and public school kids.
MAGA’s electrocution gloves
The gloves are called GLOVE, an acronym for Generated Low Output Voltage Emitter, and are produced by Compliant Technologies. While the company advertised their electrocution gloves in 2022 as “weapons,” they since have rebranded them as “conductive distraction and de-escalation devices.”
The company was started by former Blackhawk helicopter pilot Jeff Niklaus, whom Mother Jones reports “believes that President Donald Trump has been ‘anointed’ by God,” and who “blamed the fatal crash of a passenger plane and a military helicopter on ‘the vaccines,’ and on the Biden administration’s inclusion of women and LGBTQ people in the military.”
The gloves have been promoted by the likes of Sheriff Mark Lamb, the MAGA influencer who calls himself “America’s Sheriff.” Lamb won this year’s Republican primary for Arizona’s 5th Congressional District after being endorsed by Trump and is considered to be the favorite for the general election. According to the Arizona Republic, the former sheriff of Pinal County faces his own allegations of abusing his power by threatening women he allegedly sent nude photos to.
In an interview with Dan De La Cruz, president of Compliant Technologies, Lamb couldn’t contain his excitement about the product.
He watched as De La Cruz performed a demonstration on a tall adult man. De La Cruz said the electrical currents can’t harm the person doing the electrocution and can’t go through clothing. So the glove must make contact with skin in order to electrocute the target. According to Wired, “The GLOVE works using neuro-peripheral interference, essentially shocking the skin to bombard the sensory nerves and temporarily short-circuit the brain’s focus.”
When De La Cruz electrocuted the man’s arm, the man immediately fell to the ground in pain. “That fight ended in less than 3 seconds,” Cruz said. “That was zero tactics. That was me just closing my hand on him.”
He claimed the electrocution gloves will save taxpayers money because they don’t leave any evidence of physical harm behind. So it’s hard for the survivors to prove they were hurt: “That saves a lot in taxpayer’s money when it comes to workman’s comp and suspect payouts that we’re seeing left and right here.”
Lamb responded, “Which is what happens. It’s a very litigious society. And we’re constantly having to deal with that.”
“There’s no other tool on an officer’s belt that we can demonstrate today and everybody walk away with zero injuries and probably smiling and laughing when we’re done.”
In another demonstration with a police officer, De La Cruz said when officers are “forced to strike (suspects), dig their knees into them, multiple things, none of this looks good on camera.” So to make his gloves contact the officer’s skin, he pulled up the officer’s shirt and touched his back. Immediately, the officer’s arms stretched out in pain.
“That was horrible. That was horrible,” the officer said. Then he added, “But it worked.”
De La Cruz added: “You’re not hurt. And everything they saw on camera. I didn’t strike you. I didn’t do anything. Their hands always pop out.” He said there have been 3,000 real-world uses of their gloves and concluded, “There’s no other tool on an officer’s belt that we can demonstrate today and everybody walk away with zero injuries and probably smiling and laughing when we’re done.”