US President Donald Trump canceled his defense secretary’s plan to livestream the execution of a former military officer after widespread backlash.
More than 70 retired military leaders condemned the “barbaric” order. The last known US public execution was in 1936, and only Iran and Afghanistan still regularly perform them. The New Yorker’s Dexter Filkins recalled watching a Taliban-staged execution in Kabul, writing: “What I saw was different, but not by much.”
Hegseth suggested a public death would deter similar actions, but a historian argued that “Americans at the republic’s founding debated that premise.” A former military officer who studied execution videos wrote, “no sane person enjoys looking at an execution… to do so for the crass purpose of entertainment is even worse.”