The U.S. last held a public execution in the 1930s.
asserted
U.S. → hold → 1930s
The Pentagon wants to change that
The Pentagon says it will livestream the planned military execution of Nidal Hasan, the former Army psychiatrist who killed 13 people and wounded 32 at Fort Hood, Texas, in 2009.
asserted
who → want → 2009
His case returned to the public spotlight earlier this week, when the Pentagon announced that President Trump had approved his death by firing squad — a first for the military since World War II.
asserted
Trump → return → II
The Pentagon says Hasan's execution will take place on the afternoon of Dec. 3 at Fort Hood, the site of his shooting rampage.
asserted
execution → say → rampage
On Thursday, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said the proceedings would be available for public viewing.
asserted
proceedings → say → viewing
"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," Hegseth said in a video interview with Real America's Voice, a right-wing streaming network.
asserted
Hegseth → make → Voice
The Pentagon confirmed to NPR in a statement Friday that the execution "will be livestreamed," saying details would follow.
But much remains uncertain.
asserted
much → confirm → statement
Legal experts have said Hasan could delay his execution by years if he decides to file a habeas corpus appeal in federal court.
uncertain
he → say → court
Michael Radelet, a professor emeritus at the University of Colorado Boulder who studies capital punishment, says outside groups could potentially challenge the livestream plans, too.
uncertain
groups → study → plans
"Hegseth is a rather controversial person," Radelet told NPR.
asserted
Radelet → tell → NPR
"If he says, 'Do it this way,' it's not at all clear that it will actually be done that way.
asserted
it → say → it
If it does come to pass, it would be the first public execution in the U.S. in nearly a century — and the first ever to be livestreamed.
asserted
it → come → century
"Public executions have typically been held in authoritarian countries to instill fear in the population and to show the power and control of the government," Robin Maher, the executive director of the nonprofit Death Penalty Information Center, told NPR.
asserted
Maher → hold → NPR
"We're not aware of any regulation or historical precedent for a [U.S.] military execution to be livestreamed on the internet, or otherwise made widely available to the public.
asserted
execution → livestreame → public
The last high-profile public execution in the U.S. was 90 years ago
The last high-profile public execution in the U.S. was the hanging of Rainey Bethea — a Black man convicted of raping a white woman — in 1936.
asserted
execution → convict → 1936
The case drew national attention.
asserted
case → draw → attention
Roughly 20,000 people gathered in the western Kentucky city of Owensboro, where workers had built a gallows near the riverfront, according to NPR station WKMS.
uncertain
workers → gather → WKMS
People celebrated with "necktie" parties the night before, and sipped soft drinks at the scene in what attendees and historians describe as a festive atmosphere.
asserted
attendees → celebrate → atmosphere
"They sold sandwiches and they sold Coca-Colas, and you'd have thought it was a big picnic or something," attendee Bill Shelton recalled in a 2013 oral history interview with the Daviess County Public Library.
asserted
Shelton → sell → Library
The spectacle prompted a public backlash over the perceived barbarity of executions.
asserted
spectacle → prompt → executions
Kentucky held a "semi-public" hanging in a prison yard the following year, Radelet said, before outlawing public executions altogether in 1938.
asserted
Radelet → hold → 1938
He said the closest example was the lethal injection of Oklahoma City bomber Timothy McVeigh in 2001.
asserted
example → say → 2001
The Justice Department made a closed-circuit telecast available for designated survivors and victims' loved ones to watch remotely; 232 of them gathered in a viewing room in Oklahoma City to do so.
asserted
232 → make → City
"It's like getting rid of the guillotine — when it's gone, it's gone," Radelet said.
asserted
Radelet → rid → guillotine
He said public executions fell out of favor for two main reasons: They are no longer widely believed to be a crime deterrent; and authorities became worried that public executions — especially those that went wrong — would turn people against the death penalty.
asserted
that → say → penalty
In fact, as part of that shift, executions have become less visible over time, Maher said.
asserted
Maher → become → time
Initially, she said, states would conduct them in the middle of the night.
asserted
states → say → night
Now, she said, some of the states that still carry out the death penalty have limited access for media witnesses.
asserted
that → say → witnesses
"We moved away from public executions quite deliberately because they had turned into spectacles.
asserted
they → move → spectacles
That was not sitting comfortably with people anymore," said Maher.
asserted
Maher → sit → people
"And I think there was a move away from that sort of circus environment to inside prisons in the middle of the night."
asserted
I → think → night
Tennessee's recent botched lethal injection of Christa Pike has reignited debate over the death penalty.
asserted
injection → botch → penalty
Radelet thinks a firing squad execution — especially if it's livestreamed — could further diminish public support for capital punishment, already at a five-decade low.
uncertain
it → think → low
"There probably wouldn't be too much blood, but enough to make people talk about it over their morning coffee, if they're not sick," Radelet said.
asserted
Radelet → make → coffee
"And that discussion might be yet another step towards abolishing the death penalty."
uncertain
discussion → abolish → penalty
Justin Mazzola, deputy research director at Amnesty International USA, said in a statement that Hegseth's announcement "adds to the display of cruelty" seen recently with Pike's botched execution.
asserted
announcement → say → execution
"The U.S. death penalty is irredeemably broken," he said.
asserted
he → break → ?
"It is high time that the U.S. authorities, at all levels, use their power to show human rights leadership and end this ultimate cruel, inhuman and degrading punishment once and for all."
asserted
authorities → use → all
Leaders call for Hegseth to reverse course
Hegseth's comments were met immediately with questions, concerns and calls for reconsideration.
asserted
comments → call → reconsideration
On Friday, Vice President JD Vance told reporters, "if it's ultimately livestreamed, I'm not going to be watching it."
asserted
I → tell → it
…and 9 more, not listed.
The Aporia
