Hegseth’s Enabling of Public Viewing of Execution is Disgusting

     I am not someone who is soft on crime, and I believe justice requires serious penalties against perpetrators. Criminals should be held accountable. While capital punishment is debatable, I am personally against it. I think we can do better as a society. While such hardened criminals as murderers may not be reformable, they can be made to observe that the society they live among is not like them.

     I am not sure what Hegseth’s motivation is for announcing the execution of Fort Hood shooter Nidal Hasan, who ruthlessly murdered 13 people and wounded 30 others in 2009. I will state that it is a bit strange that our legal system waits decades to execute criminals. I don’t know if that is good or bad in total, but it just seems strange. I am always opposed to the “cruel and unusual punishment” that our legal system also opposes in theory.

     Apparently, Hegseth pushed for an execution by firing squad and is now announcing that the execution will be available for public viewing. Who the hell would want to watch that? I don’t care if someone killed my mother, my kid, or my best friend. I would not want to watch them being executed. Are we barbarians? I was also against the U.S.’s bombing of suspected drug boats in the Caribbean, which I believe Hegseth also spearheaded. We don’t kill the people we convict of selling drugs in America. Why would we kill people suspected of doing so in international waters? I am strongly opposed to narcotraffickers and organized crime. That does not mean I think we should blow people up.

     Hegseth indicated that he sees it as a deterrent:

“It’s going to be soldiers with rifles executing the firing squad,” Hegseth said in an interview with Jack Posobiec of Real America’s Voice aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln. “And we’ll make sure that people are able to watch it, that it’s public, because people need to understand that there’s serious consequences for these types of things.”

     I don’t buy it. People already know they would likely be executed for such crimes or be subjected to life imprisonment.

     Public executions are what Iran does, what North Korea does. Saudi Arabia does it too, and other countries.

     North Carolina GOP Senator Thom Tillis noted:

"Hasan should face the death penalty, but making his execution public and streaming it? Beyond disgusting," Tillis wrote on X. "Public executions are what oppressive dictatorships like Iran and Afghanistan do. It should not be happening in America."

     According to Newsweek, it has been 65 years since the U.S. military conducted an execution:

“The execution would be the first carried out by the U.S. military since 1961. The last military execution by firing squad was that of Army Private Eddie Slovik, who was executed for desertion in France in 1945.”

     Apparently, this is against military regulation, but that is apparently being ignored. However, the Army said the execution will be conducted according to regulation. One execution y firing squad occurred last year in South Carolina It was the first in 15 years.

     The last public execution in the U.S. happened 90 years ago.

“The last generally recognized public execution in the United States was the hanging of Rainey Bethea in Owensboro, Kentucky, on August 14, 1936. An estimated crowd of thousands gathered to watch.”

“No legal execution in the United States has been broadcast live to the public, making the Pentagon's announcement that Hasan's execution will be livestreamed an unusual development in the country's history of capital punishment.”

     I will also say this. I don’t like Hegseth. I don’t think he is smart. I don’t think he is good for our military. His anti-woke and other changes have mostly been bone-headed. I disagree with his mass firing of generals, his truly bone-headed testosterone push, and much more. While I don’t disagree with all of his military decisions, I will be happy when he is gone.   

References:

 

Pete Hegseth Pushes for Public Firing Squad Execution for Fort Hood Shooter. Steven Frank and Joshua Rhett Miller. Newsweek. October  8, 2026. Fort Hood Shooter Nidal Hasan Could Have Public Firing Squad Execution, Hegseth Says - Newsweek