Content Warning: The following article contains discussions of execution
The United States military is about to carry out its first execution in 60 years, and this time they’re putting in a violently dystopian twist: The method will be by firing squad, and it will all be livestreamed to the American public in a sickening spectacle.
The prisoner in question is Nidal Hasan, a former Army officer. Hasan is infamous for the 2009 attack on an Army complex at Fort Hood, Texas, which killed 13 people; 12 of those people were U.S. soldiers. This act earned him a conviction from a military jury, a consignment to death row and now an execution, which is scheduled for Dec. 3. As terrible as his actions were — the death penalty is a separate issue in this case — to livestream his execution by firing squad reflects extremely poorly on the U.S. Public executions are the weapon of authoritarian and tyrannical states; they are essentially the opposite of how we like to think of this country. But Trump and his Cabinet of cruelty has brought the unthinkable to the fore. Their outlook on state violence is dragging us into a much darker future.
The act of public execution has only been carried out by two countries in recent years: Afghanistan and Iran. These countries are both controlled by radical regimes that regularly embrace state violence; in Iran, at least 600 people have been executed for various offenses just in 2026. In Taliban-controlled Afghanistan, according to Amnesty International, extrajudicial executions and unlawful detentions are prevalent as well.
Across most of the world, public executions are deeply frowned upon. In 2025, only 17 countries carried out executions at all. America was, naturally, part of this short list, which also included other shining paragons of democracy such as Somalia, Saudi Arabia and China… oh wait. Those countries are all either deeply authoritarian or riven by societal conflict. The vast majority of the world’s democracies have either put a pause on executions or abolished the death penalty altogether, let alone stage a public death by firing squad. Public executions simply aren’t done by any state with a democratic system of government. Well, until America decided to bring it back.
There is a reason, of course, that the U.S. is returning to the idea of public execution. Livestreaming a state-ordained killing to the population is intended to spread fear and remind citizens of their place. Pete Hegseth, the Department of Defense secretary and the one who announced the plans, said as much in an interview: “People need to understand that there’s serious consequences for these types of things.” He was ostensibly referring to Hasan’s killing spree, but there is an underlying message in the idea of consequences. Why show everyone the firing squad in their deliverance of death? By livestreaming the execution, Hegseth is telling the people of America that the state could do this to you, too, if it really wanted to. It puts the thought in your mind to not disobey. To conform. To not end up like the man shot dead, live for you to see.
At the same time, the public execution is meant to be a state-driven spectacle that desensitizes people to the violence. In the age of the Internet, we’ve all been somewhat desensitized by violent and bloody acts that randomly appear on our screens — the shooting of Charlie Kirk last year comes to mind. We then scroll away from the violence, on to the next video or pressing task that demands our attention. The nature of these acts should drive us to concern, but the distance created by seeing them on a screen dulls that sense of caring. Now, the government is going further by choosing to livestream their violence to the public, encouraging us to watch along and even celebrate the occasion. Effectively, the Pentagon is arguing that not only should this man die, we should enjoy watching it happen.
This application of violence is also connected to a broader pattern of state-supported killings in the Trump regime. On “Saturday Night Live” last week, comedian Michael Che joked about the public execution being the first one since “a couple weeks ago,” referring to the numerous deaths at the hands of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents. His connection was serious, though; according to a review from CBS News, nine people have been fatally shot by ICE since the second Trump administration began. In this sense, the upcoming public execution is an extension of the government’s escalating tendencies toward violence. A violent, vengeful government is not what the American people deserve.
Death cannot pay for death. The public execution will not change the fact that 13 people lost their lives at Fort Hood in 2009. It will, however, show that America has lost its way. We are treading in the territory of extremely repressive regimes, and our government is doing so gladly. If the execution goes through and is livestreamed, we won’t just be watching a man die. We’ll be watching the fatal blow to what little morality remains in American governance.